


Dream of Acedia (Persona 5 x OMORI)

by Phurtershep



Category: OMORI (Video Game), Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Crossover, Dreams, Dreamsharing, During Canon, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Post-Canon, Repressed Memories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-19 08:35:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29623563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phurtershep/pseuds/Phurtershep
Summary: Ren Amamiya, leader of the Phantom Thieves, receives a request from an anonymous sender to help a young boy locked inside his house for four years of his own volition. What he finds is a distortion powerful enough that it can be sensed in the real world, and a shattered group of people who once called each other friends.What could have happened in this town for such a powerful distortion to form, and how will it end up fixed?(Contains major spoilers for OMORI, Persona 5, and Persona 5 Royal)(Post Canon for P5, during Canon for OMORI. OMORI is moved ahead timewise)
Comments: 222
Kudos: 349
Collections: Quality Persona Fics





	1. Faraway Town, Faraway From Home

_“I don’t know if the Phantom Thieves are real, but… I heard about you guys three years ago. I was only thirteen then, but… it really inspired me. Stealing hearts, I mean. Helping people who couldn’t be helped any other way. I have a bit of an odd request. My friend Sunny Suzuki has been inside his house for the last few years. I’ve seen small glimpses of him through his windows, he’s alive in there. His mom leaves… he never has, not once in four years. It started right after his sister committed suicide. He found her, I’m pretty sure. Nothing’s been the same since. I’m worried about him, but he’s never responded to me. I need your help.”_

_“I need you to take his heart.”_

* * *

Ren reread the message a few times on the train to Faraway Town. It… resonated with him, for a multitude of reasons.

It evidently resonated with Futaba, considering she’d gone to him in person to ask him to do it. 

It wasn’t the first time he’d been to the US, far from it, but he rarely left urban areas. Going to a place so suburban it bordered on rural was a change of pace.

“Jeez, are we there yet?” Morgana groaned from the bag sitting on Ren’s lap. 

“You’d have heard it if we were.” Ren mused, “Besides, you don’t _have_ to sit in there.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Morgana yawned, “This thing creaks a ton.”

“Still, rather it be creaky than cramped.” Ren replied, leaning back and lounging in his seat. Trains were a rarer and rarer thing these days. Even if it wasn’t a subway, it brought back some nostalgia. 

With time (and only a little more complaining from Morgana), the train slowly pulled into the station in Faraway. Taking his long term stay bag from the train, he picked up Morgana’s bag and took his first steps into the summer afternoon. This town had a distinct feel to it. The way the sun felt on his face, the wind blew through his hair… 

He liked it, but something was… off.

“Let’s get to work then.” Morgana said, hopping out of the bag and onto the warm concrete. “And by that, I mean drop off your bag at the hotel.” 

“Fiiiiine.” Ren said with a faux sigh, “I was hoping to lug it around all day.”

“Be my guest, not like it’s weighing me down!”

The hotel had the same feel to it. It was the only one in the town, and was pretty modestly sized. Getting a room wasn’t exactly hard, and within the next few minutes his bag was resting in a room and a key was in his pocket. 

“So Ren, are we going straight to the target?” 

“Yeah, unless you’re hungry.” 

“Nah, not yet, I need a run.” Morgana groaned, taking a long stretch down the sidewalk. 

Futaba had managed to dig up the kid’s address relatively quickly. His sister’s death had been large news in a town like this, especially considering the circumstances surrounding it. 

Being the one to find it must have torn the boy apart.

“Ren… Something’s wrong.” Morgana said as they turned the corner down the street the house was on. 

“What is it Morgana?” he replied, grasping at the knife concealed at his hip.

“This was a request right?” 

“Yeah, why do you ask?” 

“There’s a strong distortion here… strong enough that I can sense it in the real world.” 

Ren felt the blood drain from his face. 

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely,” Morgana said, stepping down the street, “It’s only getting stronger as we approach the house. 

“This complicates things.” Ren sighed, following his feline-shaped friend down the street. Morgana’s whiskers twitched as they stood outside the house; if that was because of the atmosphere of the place or the dog they had passed to get there he couldn’t decide. 

“This is the place.” Morgana said, “I’m sure of it.”

“So… his house then.” Ren said, pulling out his phone and opening the MetaNav. 

“Sunny Suzuki, Sunny Suzuki’s House… Hell.” Ren said, throwing out a guess. 

_“No candidate found.”_ the app responded, responded to by a sigh.

“When has that ever worked?”

“Hey, it’ll be true for someone Morgana, just you wait.” 

“Wait, someone’s coming.” Morgana said, his whiskers twitching. Ren closed the MetaNav and walked up to the door. The door to the neighbor’s house opened, and a teenage boy stepped out. His orange jersey stuck out even against his yellow painted house. The new arrival stared at the duo, namely at Ren. The teenager quickly ran around the fence and over to where they stood, looking Ren up and down. 

“Are you… a phantom thief?” the boy asked, tilting his head.

“No? What makes you say that?” Ren replied, layering on a confused facade. 

“O-Oh, nothing, nevermind. What are you doing here?”

“Checking the place out, I’m a… private investigator, you could say.”

“You’re checking out about Sunny, right? Did his dad hire you?”

“Confidential, but… yeah, I'm looking for him. You know him?”

“Yeah, but...” he began, before cutting himself off with a sigh. “Just… good luck.” 

And with that, he turned and hopped his own fence to go back into his house.

“Full of energy, I guess.” Morgana muttered, “Shame we can’t get more out of him without revealing ourselves.

“Actually, I think we might want to get in touch with him later. I’m pretty sure he’s the one who sent the request.” Ren replied, “Just not while we’re out here. I’d rather avoid it if we can, but… We’ll need something to get in that house.”

“Yeah, and just standing out here talking into your phone is conspicuous as hell!”

“I’ll have to see if Futaba can get me a connection.” Ren sighed, stepping back to the sidewalk.

“I knew the cat was weird, you’re talking to him aren’t you?” the boy from before said, looking over the fence. Ren froze in place, Morgana slowing to a stop to look around. He never actually left, just went over to watch and wait.

“Let me be a cat whisperer in peace.” Ren deadpanned, leaning down and scratching behind Morgana’s ears. 

“Not a caaaat…” Morgana yawned, looking between Ren and the boy. 

“Look, just… I want to help him, but I don’t know what you’re actually here for.” 

“Investigating for a private party.”

“If you want to get more, Sunny’s best friend is still in the neighborhood."

A real lead. 

“Alright, what’s the catch?”

“I want in on it.”

“Greaaaaaaaat…” Morgana sighed, “Could you have not made a better excuse?”

“The more the merrier.” Ren said tentatively, “Though most people like to introduce themselves before forcing themselves into someone else’s business.”

“Aha… I get that. My name’s Kelsey, Kel for short.” he said with a wave, “And you are?”

“Akira.” he answered after a moment’s hesitation. If Kel noticed it, he didn’t say anything. 

“You’re too soft for your own good.” Morgana said, flicking his tail back and forth. 

“Shush Morgana.” Ren said, scooping up his significantly smaller companion.

“Oh, it’s a she?” Kel asked as he ran back around his fence.

“No, Morgana’s a he.” 

“Odd name choice then.” Kel said with a shrug, “Whatever, his house is down this way.” 

He led the way through the neighborhood, stopping at the other end of a parallel street. The outside was surrounded by various filled pots, flowerbeds, and bushes. 

“Alright, uh…” Kel said, stepping up to the doorstep, “Maybe you should ask? I don’t think his caretaker likes me much.

 _“Caretaker?”_ Ren thought to himself, stepping up the door and ringing the doorbell. _“Something must have happened to him too.”_

“Coming!” a young woman’s voice answered from inside, the door swinging open a few moments later to reveal a woman only a few years older than Ren. “Er… who are you?”

“My name is Akira Kurusu, I’m a private investigator looking into a boy named Sunny Suzuki. Would there be someone here who’d know something about him?”

“Oh... “ the young replied, her expression darkening, “That’s… no. He isn’t here.”

The door was closed in his face. 

“You’re about as subtle as a sledgehammer sometimes.” Morgana said, “Isn’t a phantom thief supposed to have tact?” Ren just rolled his eyes, walking back towards Kel. 

“Dang, I really thought she’d at least give us the time of day…” Kel sighed, “Well, there is someone else, but..."

“Oh, maybe someone we can get something out of in the Metaverse!” Morgana said.

“What’s their name?” 

“Uh… Aubrey. She’s probably hanging around the park if you really wanted to go and look for her.”

“I would have passed it on the way here, so… I’ll be on my way.”

“Hey, look. If you think she’s gonna be nice to you you’re out of your mind. She’s-” 

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.” Ren said, “Thanks for the help.”

“I'm tagging along.” Kel said.

“Do you not have anything else to do today?”

“Nope.”

“And I take it you wouldn’t listen if I said not to?”

“Nope! Figures a PI would be good at reading people.” Kel said with a giant grin on his face.

This was starting to go from a blessing to a curse very quickly.

The park had an old school feel to it, bringing Ren back to memories of when he was a kid in his hometown. Not that he had particularly pleasant memories of his childhood, but whatever. 

Someone, or rather two someones, caught his eye.

A blond boy about the same age as Kel was crying in a sandy patch of the park, with a girl in a hoodie and glasses standing over him on a scooter. They were arguing about… something, he couldn’t tell at that distance.

“Wait a second, that’s Basil!” Kel exclaimed, taking off towards the two teenagers ahead of them. Ren sped up to follow, while Morgana maintained a relaxed pace. Wasn’t much for him to do in that kind of situation anyways. “Hey! Leave him alone, you bully!” 

Ren missed out on any of the argument, but… it seemed like Kel was on his way to starting a new one. 

Damn him for still not learning when to not intervene.

Ren stepped up between the two, with his back to the blond. The girl glared at him, sizing him up from the look she gave him. 

“Mind your own business, Kel!” she yelled, “And that goes for you too,” she continued, turning back to Ren. “Figures Kel would have weird friends.”

“Figures a kid on a scooter would be an ass,” Ren sighed.

“Shut up asshole!” she yelled, very quickly looking flustered, “Auuuuuubrey! We’ve got trouble!” 

“M-Mister, you don’t have to-” the boy behind him began, going silent as five other teenagers slid from trees around the park.

“What is it, Kim?” one with bright pink hair said, bringing up her bat over her shoulder. A weapon would be a problem, Ren would have to deal with it first if things got ugly. 

“Kel brought some weirdo with him to bother us!”

“No, not to bother you, I’m looking for your leader.” Ren said, focusing on Aubrey.

“Wait! So you tricked me!” Kim growled, “Ooooooh…”

Well, she could think he was planning ahead further than he was if she wanted to, he wasn’t going to stop her.

“What do you want then?” Aubrey scrowled, kicking her scooter over and walking up to Ren. Despite being quite a few inches shorter than him, she had an intimidating aura. One Ren was more than used to, but regardless.

“He’s looking for Sunny, Aubrey.” Kel said, walking up to the blond in the sand, “Figures you guys would be busy bullying Basil again.”

So he was Basil then? Figures why his caretaker was… iffy on him speaking. 

“J-Just give me back my photo album! Please!” Basil cried, “I won’t bother you anymore, just give it back!”

“After you went and destroyed it you damn freak?!” Aubrey yelled, lowering the bat from her shoulder, “I’m shocked you didn’t burn the damn thing when you had it.”

Ren stood silently in place, trying to gauge Aubrey’s reaction. The rest of the gang around her seemed to just be troublemakers instead of full on delinquents, but…

Their leader was another problem entirely, even discounting her weapon.

“Look, I’m not going to pretend to know what’s going on here yet, but I don’t think it’s any of your business what somebody else does with _their_ things.” Ren said.

“You don’t know a damn thing...? Then why don’t you shut your mouth before I shut it for you?” 

“Aubrey?” Kel muttered, evidently taken aback by her aggression. The gang behind her stood back too.

Seems he accidentally struck a nerve.

“Seems like your gang isn’t interested in a fight.” Ren said, looking over Aubrey’s head. 

“Y-You don’t have to do this Aubrey, re-” Basil began, tentatively taking a step towards Aubrey only to be punched in the chest. He was crying before he even hit the ground. 

“I’m sick of you, all of you! You don’t even care about a damn thing aside from being self righteous douchebags!” she yelled, “We’re leaving!” 

Within moments, the gang picked up their scooters and wheeled away. 

“Jeez Basil, are you alright?” Kel said, helping him to his feet.

“Yeah, d-definitely.”

“You don’t sound so sure.” Ren said, looking down at him.

“Really, I’m alright. I’d hate to get in your way if you’re trying to go after Aubrey.”

“Well, it wasn’t Aubrey in specific. He’s…” Kel paused, “He’s looking for Sunny.”

Basil went pale.

“O-Oh.” 

“If you don’t want to say anything that’s fine.” Ren dismissed, “Really.”

“I’d… rather not.” Basil sighed, “Umm… but if you can find my photo album, it has… pictures of him in it. Stuff from when he was out and about.”

“Alright, we’ll get it back for you Basil, I promise!”

“R-Really?”

“Where would her house be then?” Ren said.

“Wait, why wouldn’t we look for her first?”

“Is… there a reason we wouldn’t be able to get it from her family?”

Silence.

The message was clear enough.

“Alright, let’s go looking then.” Ren sighed, “All her friends left with her, we’ll have to track them down.”

“Well I know where a few of them would be!” Kel said, “Three of em anyways. But… why wouldn’t we just go for her?”

“Do you know where _she_ went?”

More silence.

“Yeah alright, let’s… go with your idea.” Kel muttered sheepishly, “Do you want us to walk you home Basil?”

“I’ll be fine alone, but thank you.”

He trotted off as Morgana trotted over, sitting down at Ren’s side.

“Lead the way, Kel.”


	2. A Church With Three Unwanted Attendees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren and Kel begin the search for Aubrey, and by extent Basil's photo album.

“Alright, so I know two of them always like to shoplift from the supermarket, candy specifically.” Kel began, moving his hands all over as he talked. “And there’s one other who’s a bit… odd. Mikhael. I think he’s been insisting everyone call him... Mauverick or something. He’s been telling anyone that’ll listen to him that he has a date today, so we can just poke around for him, or more likely for someone with a blond wig sobbing their eyes out."

Kel kept going on as the two stepped into Faraway Plaza, a neat, if small, cluster of stores. There was even a fountain over to the side, and next to that fountain…

“Greaaaat…” Kel muttered, “Speak of the devil.”

Bleached hair was nothing new to Ren, having spent his entire time in Tokyo friends with Ryuji. A bleached wig on the other hand… that was new.

“Ladies, step aside! Someone approaches us.” he announced, posing dramatically. The women next to him didn’t need any convincing, taking their fair share of steps away from him.

He was one of those kinds of womanizers then, the type that just throws money at problems to attempt to make them disappear. 

“Look, Mikhael. We’re not here to interrupt your…” Kel began, before pausing for several moments, “Date.”

“We’re looking for Aubrey.” Ren continued, “Not for a fight.”

“Of course you wouldn’t want to fight me.” Mikhael scoffed, “But the leader’s location is information privy to only those who call me by my true name, THE MAVERICK!”

“Oh come on Mi-” Kel began, before Ren shushed him. 

“THE MAVERICK, we require the information you hold.” Ren announced. 

“I can’t believe you’re doing this.” Kel sighed, “Can’t we just-” 

“Now now, Kel, have some respect.” Ren said, winking at Kel, before continuing in a whisper, “Play along.”

“So then, can you tell us the,” Kel began, stopping as he coughed the words out, “The Maverick?” 

“Wow! Not even the rest of the scooter gang actually calls me by that name…” Mikhael said, “I mean, Yes! Of course!” 

“My thanks, The Maverick.” Ren said, giving an overdramatic bow. 

“She’s in the church.” Mikhael whispered, before stepping back. “Now! Begone!” 

Ren happily obliged, turning on his heel very quickly and walking back towards the park. 

“Jeez, how could you stand to do that?” Kel groaned, “Especially with that much gusto…”

“I have very dramatic friends, and sometimes you just have to butter people up to get info out of them.” Ren shrugged, “He was desperate for validation, so I just… gave him some.”

“Well, what’d he say then?”

“He said she’s in the church… wherever that is.”

“The church?” Kel questioned, “Why would she… whatever. We can go and check. It’s on the same street as Basil’s house, just the other direction.”

“Morganaaa!” Ren called, the feline-shaped-but-not-actually-a-cat manifestation of humanity’s hope hopping onto the nearby fence. “We’re going.”

“Fine.” Morgana yawned, “Was getting tired of being chased by kids.”

“Why does it sound like your cat is trying to talk back to you?” Kel asked, scratching at his head.

“Like I said, cat whisperer. He does speak to me.”

“Right…”

He doesn’t sound convinced, but that was own problem. Ren stopped caring about people thinking he was odd for talking to Morgana a long time ago. He was more worried that someone would just at random actually understand Morgana. 

On the other hand, the church. Ren had never been to many in Japan, (His family was Shinto, and he himself wasn’t exactly what most people would call religious,) but it was certainly more weathered than most he’d seen. Definitely not ratty or unkempt, but it had certainly seen its fair share of years. The two stood at the entrance for a few moments.

“I just… still can’t wrap my head around  _ Aubrey _ being in a church. She just… doesn’t seem like the type.”

“Everyone has their reasons, I guess.” Ren mused, cracking the door slightly. The sermon was just beginning. Aubrey’s bright pink hair stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Wait, you’re just gonna go in?” Kel whispered, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“If you want me to, I can do it myself.” Ren said, “I don’t have any sort of reputation to uphold around… anyone here really.” 

“Yeah, but that doesn’t…” Kel began, cutting himself off with a sigh, “Let’s just get in quickly before it really starts.” 

While they caught a few cursory glances, nobody paid the duo much mind as they padded behind where Aubrey was seated. Kel sat behind her, but Ren kept walking forward and sat next to her. She glared daggers into him, but didn’t say anything.

“I think you know why I’m here.” Ren whispered, his voice obscured to most of the audience by the pastor beginning his sermon. 

“Yeah, and the answer is fuck off.” Aubrey whispered back, “Did you really feel the need to come in here just to bother me?”

Neither spoke for a few moments as the sermon continued, Kel remaining silent behind them. 

“I don’t even know why you care so much. You’re a complete stranger in this town screwing with people who want nothing to do with you. Why?”

“I want to help people, and in order to help a specific someone I need to figure out what’s at the root of what’s wrong with them… their outlook on life. Does that make sense?”

“No, not really. I don’t get what that has to do with you giving that creep things for him to destroy.”

“Then… tell me about it.” Ren said, “It’s a bit presumptuous I guess, but I doubt they were destroying it without reason.”

Aubrey was silent for a few moments, staring at Ren. 

“You’re lucky I can’t beat the shit out of you in a church.”

“I can’t say I’m anxious to be hit by that bat.” 

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up.” Aubrey sighed, looking up at the stained glass window at the back of the church. “I don’t know you, that makes this… hard to even begin to talk about.“

“Trust me, I have time to listen.”

“Yeah, I’d imagine you do since you’re like 23 hanging around teenagers.”

“I’m… only 19.” Ren chuckled, “Not even able to drink yet.”

“Don't you have college or a job to be doing instead of bothering me?”

“Long story.”

“Guess it goes both ways then.”

“You don’t really like to be here, do you?” Ren asked.

“Of course not, everyone else here certainly doesn’t like a punk being here.”

“But there’s a reason you come anyways.” Ren asked, receiving only a nod as an answer. He looked back to Kel, whose hazel eyes provided no further answer.

“Just… stay out of this. You don’t know us.”

“I’m starting to learn,” Ren said, “And I think there’s more to this that needs fixing than a photo album, something none of you are going to fix on your own.”

“No. Shit.” Aubrey said, glaring holes into Ren’s face. Ren turned back ahead.

The sermon finished without incident.

Standing up to leave, Aubrey elbowed him in the side. 

“9:30 at the park. Be there, without  _ him. _ ” she whispered, motioning towards Kel. Ren nodded. 

She left ahead of the other two, and didn’t turn back as she left.

“Well… that could have gone better. We didn’t really get anything out of her.” Kel sighed.

“Hey Kel… What’s special about this photo album?” Ren asked, watching as the last few dregs of the sermon left.

“It… has pictures of our friend group in it. Back when we were all still friends.”

Ren was silent for a few moments, before nodding and saying, “Sorry for taking up all your time today.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I was actually just trying to stay out of the house to get away from my mom.”

“Why’s that?”

“My older brother’s coming home tomorrow, he’s your age.”

“From college?” Ren asked, “Do you think he’d be willing to help me out?”

“That’s…” Kel started, his face darkening, “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Another person who was touchy about the subject. 

“Kel, If I could be callous enough to ask…” Ren said, pausing for a moment to choose his words, “Sunny’s sister is tied into all of this, isn’t she?”

Kel silently nodded.

It was starting to come together in his mind. When she committed suicide, all of these friends must have drifted apart. Aubrey… She wanted that photo album. Whatever her specific reasoning was, it was important to her. More than keeping any sort of friendship with any old member of the group. 

One was dead, two were absent, and the other 3 seemed to be less than well off as friends.

“It’s getting late though, you might want to head back home soon.” Ren said.

“Yeah, probably.” Kel grinned, “See ya tomorrow!”

“See ya.” Ren waved. 

Kel ran out the door of the now empty church. Ren stood for a few moments, taking in the building, before taking a walk to the back of the building to the graveyard.

The pastor silently nodded at him when he looked, so he opened the door and continued outside.

The graveyard, like most, felt heavy to Ren. He’d hated being in them. He’d visited too many in his life to ever get past that, yet he kept visiting them for one reason or another. Yusuke, Futaba, Sumire, Haru, Makoto… So many of his friends had a member of their family taken from them far younger than they should have. He’d tried to visit them himself, to pay respects in his own way. 

But how did he pay respects to a person he’d never met, who he’d heard next to nothing about other than the circumstance of their death, and whose family he had no direct connection to?

These questions didn’t stop him from making his way through the graveyard, reading the names and dates. 

Finally, he stopped on a grave along the back fence of the area.

* * *

Mari Suzuki

March 1st 2000 - October 18th 2015

The sun shined brighter while she was here.

* * *

Ren stared down at the grave. On it lay a single flower, a white egret orchid.

“My thoughts will follow you into your dreams…” he muttered to himself, thinking back to when he had bought one years ago. 

All those hours working at the flower shop were paying off it seemed. 

_ I’ll help him, I promise. _ Ren thought to himself, lowering his head and closing his eyes in a silent prayer. 

Religious or not, doing this ritual brought him peace. 

“So young…” Morgana said, padding over to where Ren stood.

“Yeah. You poked around here already then?”

“Well, I had to do something while you were in there, so I decided to do some sleuthing.”

“Fair enough.” Ren said, staring back at the grave.  _ 2015… a few months before he’d gotten his powers. _

He knew it was foolish, but things like this made Ren wonder how things could have been if he could be everywhere at once, if he could save everyone. It was dumb, he had his own life to live, he wasn’t omnipotent, so on and so forth, but… 

Messiah complexes were scary things if they got out of hand, he’d seen that with his own eyes. 

“Let’s go, Ren.” Morgana said, “It’s not good to stay here.” 

“I agree.”

Night was already drawing over the town, with his meeting drawing closer as he moved to the park.

She was waiting for him, bat and body leaning on a tree.

“You’re early.” Aubrey said simply, glaring at him.

“And you showed up early yourself.”

The two stared at each other for a few moments, surrounded by the sounds of a summer night. Morgana twitched his tail, but didn’t comment as he padded over to lay in the grass.

“I want to know what you’re really doing here.” Aubrey began, “People like you don’t come to places like this without a reason.”

“I’m looking into Sunny Suzuki, to put it the most simply.” Ren answered, keeping his hands in his jean pockets. “But, to do that, other things need to happen out here.”

“Why him? What good does looking into some asshole who abandons his friends do for you?”

“So you knew him?” 

“Yeah. We were friends… years ago though. Not anymore.”

“Why?”

It was only one word, but it made Aubrey freeze up. Then, she started shaking. If it was from anger or sadness he couldn’t tell yet, but he had a feeling he’d figure out soon enough.

“Can you keep a secret, Aubrey?”

Morgana snapped to attention.

“That… depends.” she forced out, “What’s your secret?”

“Have you ever heard of the Phantom Thieves?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Skynut and Symtrak on Discord for helping to proofread this chapter! 
> 
> I definitely didn't fuck up and call Ren Akira outside of dialogue... I would never.
> 
> Tangential Sidenote, if I didn't make it clear, Ren is using the name Akira as a pseudonym while he... tests the waters so to speak.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	3. The White Space

“Is this a fucking joke?” Aubrey glared, “What would some Japanese vigilantes be doing in some shitty small town in the US?”

“There’s problems only people like us can fix,” Ren answered, “Problems where someone’s delusions destroy their grasp of reality.”

Aubrey was silent. Morgana sat up, looking between the two.

“So that’s what you’re here for then? To do God knows what to ‘fix’ Sunny?”

“You believe me?”

“It’s… it explains too much about why you’re being so nosy.”

“Fair enough. I never claimed to be subtle.”

“How… How does it work?”

“How does what work?” 

“Well…” she paused, like she was bouncing the words around in her mouth, “I’d heard all sorts of ideas about how you would go through with… taking hearts. Like, is it magic? Mind control? Blackmail?”

Ren paused for a few moments, before pulling out his phone.

“Let me show you.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Morgana asked, only to be scooped up by Aubrey. 

“Got you.” she whispered, holding Morgana like a baby. 

“I guess you have a fan, Morgana.”

“Oh, she’s your cat?”

“He, but… yeah, something like that.”

“Ah.” she coughed, as Morgana wriggled out of her grasp into the grass. “I’m getting distracted, let’s go.”

When she was in private she was a lot more… relaxed. She didn’t feel the need to put on an act. 

Only one way to see how it’d play out.

“This distortion is still strong.” Morgana noted as they approached Sunny’s house. “Nothing’s changed.”

Ren nodded, opening the MetaNav.

“A… smartphone app? Really?”

Sunny’s name was still present in the app from earlier that day.

“Sunny Suzuki, Sunny Suzuki’s… Room, Prison.” 

_ “No Candidate Found.” _

“Figures.” Ren sighed.

“What’s the point of that?”

“Essentially in order to get to him, we need to know what he sees the world, or rather, the location of his distortion, as. For example, someone viewing a school as a castle they rule.”

“That’s… weird.”

“Well, you’re keeping up better than most people,” Ren said with a shrug. “Sometimes when we weren’t sure we’d just like… guess. A lot.”

“We?”

“The Phantom Thieves.” 

“Yeah, right… hard to think of a weirdo running around with a cat as leader of a group of thieves.”

“Morgana is far more than just a cat.” Ren pouted, “Isn’t that right Morgana?” 

“Absolutely!”

“Whatever, just…” she paused, thinking for a moment, “Cemetery?”

_ “No Candidate Found. _ ” 

“Let’s try to think outside the box a little. He’s been in there for four years right?”

“Yeah, since the end of 2015, it’s been almost four years now.” Aubrey answered, looking at the ground after finishing. “Almost four years since… Mari died.”

“Ren, I think Kel’s coming out again.” Morgana meowed, drawing Ren’s attention to the neighboring house.

“We have a guest.” Ren translated, watching as Kel’s front door opened, with him stepping outside. 

“I knew something was up…” Kel said, hopping over the fence, “What are you doing?”

“This again?” Morgana groaned, “Do you not have any way better to get here aside from right in front of the house of one of the nosiest people in the world?”

“Hey.” Ren waved. Aubrey just sighed. 

“You know, if Sunny doesn’t come out during the day, maybe he would come out at night… You should knock and see!” Kel said, walking over to them.

“That’s not why we’re here.” Aubrey said, “We’re-”

“Maybe I should tell him.” Ren coughed, “Hey Kel, you remember when I said I was a private investigator?”

“Yeah? Am I right to assume that was a bluff?”

“Absolutely, glad you understand.”

“Aaaaand that means?”

“You sent a request out a few weeks ago to someone, didn’t you?”

Kel’s eyes widened.

“No way… DOES THAT MEAN-” 

“Shhhhhh!” Aubrey and Ren went, the latter motioning for him to keep his voice down.

“Oh yeah, right…” Kel said with a sheepish grin.

“Oh, my real name is Ren by the way.”

“Odd… Akira was a cooler name.” 

“What was the point of using a pseudonym if you were going to drop it within the day?” Aubrey asked, "You never even told me it anyways."

“Secret. And by that I mean that I uh... Panicked.”

“It’s mysterious though!"

“At least one person thinks you’re cool.” Morgana mused, scratching at the door post.

After quickly catching Kel up to speed on what he needed to get inside Sunny’s Palace, Ren leaned against the wall as Kel scratched his chin in thought.

“Well, he’s been in there so long, maybe he sees it like a prison?”

“Tried that.”

“Uhhh… a fortress!”

_ “No candidate found.” _

“A… Cabin?”

_ “No candidate found.” _

“What does that have to do with  _ anything? _ ” Aubrey muttered.

“Don’t you remember when we got trapped in that old cabin in the woods? We were trying to get a spider to scare Hero.”

“But Sunny wasn’t with us.”

“No, he was. It was Basil who stayed behind.”

“Either way, that wasn’t it.” Ren said, interjecting before they could argue further, “Do we have any other ideas?”

“I just… Don’t know. It’s been so long… I don’t know if he’s even him anymore.”

“I wonder what he even does in there all the time. Sleeping?” Kel wondered

“Yeah, I’d guess, that and video games.”

“I wonder what his dreams are like…”

_ “Candidate found, beginning navigation.”  _

“Wait, Ren! That might not be a-” Morgana began, being cut off as the four were dragged into Sunny’s Palace.

Ren blinked to attention, already in his Metaverse outfit. Kel and Aubrey, not having Personas, remained as they were.

“Oh my God! You really are a Phantom Thief! I saw you in that video you guys sent out in Japan!”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.” Ren muttered, scratching at the back of his hair with a gloved hand.

“But… where are we?” Morgana asked, looking around. 

“Who said that?!” Aubrey yelled, lowering her bat into a defensive stance. 

“Down here!” Morgana said, “Hello!”

“CAT MONSTER!” 

“I’M NOT A CAT! OR A MONSTER! I’M MORGANA!”

“You’re… Morgana?” Kel said.

“Of course! The one and only.” He continued with a very slight bow, as the exaggerated size of his head would cause him to lose balance otherwise.

“A lot to take in at once, not even discounting where we are.” Ren continued, taking in their surroundings. 

They stood in the middle of a seemingly endless white abyss. 

Above them was a black light bulb, hanging from somewhere far above. A plain, white square of fabric separated them from whatever made up the plain white surface beneath. A closed laptop, a black cat (who looked nothing like Morgana, of course), a sketchbook, and a box of tissues rested around them.

Then there was the door. A plain white door that seemed to lead to nothing. No frame, no obvious lock, no color.

“Where are we?” Aubrey asked, pointing the head of her bat to the ground.

“Welcome to Sunny’s Palace…” Ren said, “A part of it at least.”

“Palace?”

“A Palace is a world where one’s distorted view of the world becomes a reality, where their desires manifest...” Morgana explained, “But… This is new.”

“Well, only one way to get out of here it seems.” Kel said, stepping over to the door and grasping the knob. It refused to move, jostling back and forth but never twisting all the way.

“Come… on…” he grunted, his muscles visibly straining with tension. 

“Dude, it isn’t going to open if you pull on it harder.” Aubrey sighed.

“It will not open yet.” a new, emotionless voice said, “You should not be here.”

There, materializing behind them, was a young boy, devoid of any color save from pure black and white.

In his hand was a knife.


	4. A White Void, A White Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren faces off against Omori in the White Space.

Ren drew his own knife, razor focused on the new arrival. 

“Mona, is this Sunny’s Shadow?”

“N-No, I don’t know what it is!”

“You should not be here.” the being repeated, despite making no motion to attack or make them leave. 

“It… It looks just like him.” Kel whispered, “In weird clothes, but…”

“It looks like when he was twelve, Kel. Who knows what he looks like now.” Aubrey said, raising her own weapon. 

All five stood in silence for a few more moments.

“You should not be here.” It repeated once again, raising its left arm towards Ren.

“Joker, move!” Morgana yelled, Joker obliging as a red hand tore through the air where he’d been moments before. 

“Mona, take them to a safe distance!” Ren yelled, reaching for the mask on his face, “Raoul!” 

Blue flames surrounded him as his Persona burst into being. 

“Eigaon!” Ren yelled, Raoul in turn firing a blast of curse magic at their target. A pillar of black and red energy surged from the ground on contact, but had no effect on his adversary.

Morgana ran back into the fight, summoning his own Persona.

“Diego, Garudyne!” Morgana ordered, raising his falchion as a surge of wind magic blew the being back. It landed on its feet, visibly unharmed.

“Begone from here.” the being ordered, a surge of red hands appearing at the feet of both Morgana and Ren. Their touch burned like molten steel, even through Ren’s pants. 

“Raoul, Brave Blade!” Ren yelled, using his Persona to free Morgana as more appeared to grasp at other parts of his body. 

“You… rely on evasion.” the being said as it slowly stepped towards Ren, knife in hand. 

“You should try it.” Ren said, receiving no answer. 

“This is my home. You should not be here.” 

It raised the knife.

A large orb struck it in the side of the head, sending it off balance. Raoul whipped around to free one of Ren’s arms, cutting off the hand at the wrist. Ren swung his knife to remove the others, giving him time to move as more appeared to attempt to ensnare him again.

“Good save, Mona!” Ren yelled, striking at the being with his knife, only to be blocked by its own. 

“Why are you here?” The being asked, its flat affect not changing despite its words and the fight. 

“We’re here to help.”

“To help? We do not want your help. Leave.” 

“Hey, Ren! The door’s open!” Kel yelled. Ren obliged, jumping back. 

“You do not get to go to the world outside.” it continued, a red hand flying at Ren while he was still in the air. It grasped at Ren’s face, Raoul disappearing in a surge of blue. “Not as you are.” 

The hands squeezed. Ren felt his power drain from his body, from his Personas… 

He had to fight, or it was going to kill him. He plunged the knife into the hand, yet it refused to let go. Repeated strikes brought him no closer to release. The clothes he wore on his body returned to normal, and he was thrown aside. 

His body felt heavy, too heavy… as though his muscles had been replaced by lead. 

Then it hit him.

He couldn’t hear the voice of his Personas. 

A hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him over the threshold of the door and out of the white void.

Ren blinked, the room he was in was purple, an incredibly bright shade. Poking through the wall above him was a large yellow cartoony cat, and around him… were three young kids.

They were tinted purple, though a normal color could be distinguished underneath. 

The most glaring thing, of course, being that two of them looked like spitting images of two of the people with him, though younger. 

Rubbing his head, Ren stood up as he looked at the three who’d come with him.

“Hey! You guys aren’t Omori! You got my hopes up!” the girl pouted.

“Come ooooon Aubrey, you ruined the game!”

“It’s fine Kel,” the oldest among them said, “Aubrey was just excited.”

“I would be fine with it being ruined too if I was doing as poorly as you.” The cognitive Kel said, blowing a raspberry at the older one.

“What the hell is going on…?” Aubrey whispered, “So much is happening all at once…”

“Not a clue, I need a minute…” Ren groaned, closing his eyes and trying to reach out to any of his personas. The collection he’d amassed over the last three years were gone, and in their place only one remained.

“Arsene.” Ren whispered, his mask and outfit returning. 

“WOOOOOOAAAAAHHHH!” The cognitive versions of Aubrey and Kel exclaimed in unison.

“ARE YOU A SUPERHERO?!” Aubrey gasped, “Wow!” 

“Don’t be silly Aubrey, Hero’s right here.” 

“I don’t think that’s what she means, Kel.” Hero said.

What an odd name.

“Hey miss, your hair is really pretty!” the cognitive Aubrey said, walking up to her real counterpart. “I wanna have my hair like that!”

“H-Huh? Thanks…” Aubrey whispered, very clearly unsure of how to react to what was going on. 

“Well, sorry for ruining your game. We’ll be… on our way.”

“Okay! Oooooh Hero, does this mean friends other than Omori are gonna start coming through the door? I’m excited!”

Ren led everyone out of the room, up a rainbow colored set of stairs and out into… a forest. It was a tight squeeze to get out, especially for Morgana, but with a helping hand they all stood outside, feeling a cool breeze blow around them. 

The sky above was a vibrant shade of purple, with crayon drawn shapes, stars, and constellations showing during what could only be described as “day” within the palace. To their left, floating in the sky was a gigantic landmass, large enough to the point where it could be considered a moon. A thin strip looked to tether it to the ground, though what it was he couldn’t tell from the distance they were at. Odder than even that, gigantic pinwheels, exact replicas of some of the cheap plastic ones he’d seen in the real world save their titanic size.

“His mind has to be fractured to be producing things this wildly different within a palace.” Morgana hummed, “He’s… definitely not well.”

“Well that much was obvious.” Aubrey groaned, “I’m just… So much has happened in so little time and I genuinely have no idea how to even begin to comprehend it.”

“I didn’t think you’d summon demons though!” Kel exclaimed, his eyes practically shining.

“Not a demon, a Persona.” Morgana chided, “A reflection of your inner self, manifested as a God, Hero, Monster… whatever your heart idealizes.”

“Or sometimes just something wacky, that happens too.” Ren hummed, thinking back to when he’d first seen Haru summon Astarte.

“That’s so cool!” 

“Kel, did you forget that mister ‘Phantom Thief’ here just got his ass beat by a twelve year old?”

“It was a very powerful twelve year old, I’ll have you know.” Ren sighed, “But… it screwed with my head somehow.”

“That thing we fought… that’s tied to Sunny’s cognition in a strong way, somehow. If it had that kind of power back there…”

“It doesn’t seem like we’re in danger out here though,” Kel shrugged, “So let’s explore a bit. Maybe we’ll find its weakness!”

“Worth a shot, not like we have much of a choice now.” Ren muttered, “I didn’t see a way out while we were in there.”

“Oh, let’s go this way then!” Kel said, pointing ahead a natural path through the woods. 

A keep moving forward type, it seemed.

The group followed Kel as he ran ahead into what could only be described as a playground, with equipment spread amongst a wide clearing in the forest. Kel was oddly silent despite the new environment, so Ren looked around where he was facing.

A large red and white picnic blanket was spread along the grass. An open basket lay neatly on one side, with candy out on one corner.   


On it sat a girl, remarkably similar to the being they’d faced in the white abyss. She was older and definitely a lot taller, but they had a similar shape to their faces, the difference that stuck out the most being that she smiled. 

Aubrey dropped her bat.

“M-Mari?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter chapter, I'm busy today but I really wanted to get what I had finished and out for everyone to enjoy.


	5. Bellona, Goddess of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aubrey awakens to a new power.

Mari. This is what she looked like. 

Ren stood with Morgana while the other two stared at the cognition of their friend.

Their dead friend. 

“She’s… purple…” Aubrey whispered, “But it’s her.” 

“Not the real her, as I’m sure you’re aware.” Morgana whispered, stepping up to her side. 

“Yeah.” Kel said slowly. 

“Are you guys okay?” Cognitive Mari asked, tilting her head in confusion. So she didn’t recognize them… Aubrey’s hands balled into fists. “Oh! Did you guys see my friends? I’m still waiting on them to arrive.”

“No, sorry.” Kel said, taking Aubrey’s wrist and trying to turn to leave. She ripped it out of his grasp, going down and picking up her bat.

“You’re dead.” Aubrey said, staring down Mari. “You… shouldn’t be alive.”

The cognition of Mari just looked confused, looking at herself for any sort of wound or injury. 

“I’m… sorry? Are you okay?” she asked, genuinely confused. 

“Aubrey, she isn’t real.” Ren whispered, silently moving behind Aubrey. She didn’t react, keeping the bat in her grip. They were attracting the attention of the other residents of the playground, who had stopped and were watching what was unfolding.

“That sick fuck is keeping Mari alive in here.” Aubrey whispered, “He’s pretending she’s still alive to make himself feel better.”

“He’s… still in denial about it? After four years?” Kel muttered, “Sorry again, we’ll be going.” Kel said, grabbing Aubrey more forcefully this time. 

“LET GO OF ME!” she yelled, headbutting Kel, “You can’t just ignore this like how you ignored when Mari died!” 

“Or what? Be like you and bully whoever you want to make yourself look better? I’m trying to move on, Aubrey!” Kel retaliated. The cognitions around them looked dumbfounded, especially the one based on the centerpiece of their argument. 

“Joker, I sense Shadows.” Morgana said, pawing over next to him.

“Now of all times, huh?” Ren replied, “Mona, I’m going to need your help.” 

“I’ll handle them Joker, you make sure those two don’t kill each other.” 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Aubrey screamed, “ALL YOU’VE EVER DONE IS JUST ASSUME SHIT ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE SINCE MARI DIED! I’M SICK OF IT!” 

“What were we supposed to do?! Whenever anyone tried you’d tell us to go away, tell us you didn’t want to see us? And then as soon as you do, all you do is just treat Basil and me like crap! So what’s your deal then Aubrey?!”

“W-Wait! Please don’t fight!” Mari stammered, standing up from her picnic blanket. A bat smote the cognition aside. It vanished into black smoke as it slammed into the ground.

A mask burned across Aubrey’s face.

Shit.

“What the…?” Kel muttered, stepping backwards in awe. 

“This is...” Aubrey muttered, grasping at the mask on her face. It was an oddly intricate mask, with a red flame motif 

“Do you resist the truth anymore?” A woman’s voice boomed from the air around them.

“No… No I don’t.” Aubrey said, blue flames spiraling around her feet. She tugged at the mask, groaning in pain as it stuck to her face.

“Then rip off this mask, my child. Let your rage paint the floors red.”

“PERSONA!” Aubrey yelled, tearing the mask off. Blood streamed from where the mask had been, before her body was consumed by the blue flames. 

“A-AUBREY!” Kel yelled in shock.

"Bellona, to my side." she said through the burning flames, causing them to rise in intensity.

“Stay back!” Ren yelled going between the two.

The flames rose from Aubrey’s body, her clothes having changed into a new outfit. A white shirt flowed to her wrists, her torso covered by a golden cuirass. Her skirt had changed into a pair of thick pants, dark red in color and complemented by similar colored boots and gloves. Her bright blue bow had been replaced with one of bright crimson, and a cloak of a similar color hung over her shoulders.

The sudden shift of her appearance was complemented by the Persona that had erupted behind her. Broken chains adorned its wrists, with a flaming sword in one hand and a bloody javelin in the other. A large, golden helmet adorned its head, its face obscured by the same red flames that covered the blade. A white, flowing toga covered the rest of its body, with gold embroidery flowing across it.

“Get out of my goddamn way.” Aubrey said, her nailed bat looking out of place with her warlike, yet faintly regal appearance. 

“We have other things to deal with.” Ren replied, pointing with his knife to the shadows approaching.

“You’re next, Kel.” Aubrey threatened, Bellona continuing to face Kel while it floated behind Aubrey. 

The Shadows took the form of rabbits, though appearing to have their pelts stitched together. They approached in a group of 6. 

“Mona, stand back. Focus on support.” Ren ordered, “I think a show of force for our new ally is needed.” 

“Bellona, cleave them apart!” Aubrey roared, rushing forwards in tandem with her Persona. The first one’s eyes widened as nails tore into the skin of its head, Bellona following to immediately cut one in half. It burned into smoke as it split, vanishing into the air. 

“Arsene!” Joker yelled, summoning his own Persona. 

“You’ve breathed your last!” the persona yelled, equally as dramatic as its summoner. The blade on its heel tore into another as Joker began to cut down a fourth with his own weapon. The remaining two, apparently entirely unprepared for what had been awaiting them, started to turn to run. 

“Agi!” Aubrey yelled, Bellona responding by firing a blast of fire from its sword. It struck the first, sending it burning into the second. Within moments, flames consumed them both, and they vanished into smoke. 

The blue flames subsided.

Aubrey’s Persona reverted into the mask on her face. She lurched and stumbled forward as the wave of exhaustion crushed over her. 

“Jeez… that was…” Aubrey began, blinking as she looked down at herself. “Eh?! What the hell am I wearing?” 

“Your new outfit.” Morgana said, “Not bad.” 

“Shut up. God... Am I stuck with this now? I want _my_ clothes back.”

“I think it’s fitting.” Ren mused, “But your normal clothes will return when we leave.”

“Uh, hey guys?” Kel said, “What… the hell just happened? Aubrey has a power like you guys?”

“A Persona is just a manifestation of someone’s spirit. A will to turn against fate, to face the truth, to rebel against powers above, so on and so forth.” Morgana instructed. He really enjoyed teaching people things, maybe because he really couldn't in the real world? Something to ask later, perhaps.

“Do I get one?”

“Maybe?” Ren shrugged, “It seems like most people who end up in the Metaverse end up with one, like Aubrey did. So…”

“So you don’t know.” Aubrey glowered. “You’ve been doing this for YEARS now and you still aren’t even entirely sure how your own powers work.”

“Well, look at the world around you right now.” Morgana replied, “Does any of this truly make sense? People spend their entire lives studying fields with years of research behind it and fail to make discoveries or anything like that.”

“Quit blowing steam.” Aubrey said, flicking Morgana on the head. 

“Aubrey-” 

“I didn't forget, Kel. Shut up.”

The two stood in silence for a few moments, before Aubrey turned to face the picnic blanket. 

“Do you think something’s going to happen since we did that?” Kel said, looking down at the bright red and white checkerboard fabric. 

“Maybe… but she’ll be back soon enough. Sunny’s cognition hasn’t changed… at least in any way we could notice. He might have a thought about it in the real world, but what happens in here stays in here.” Ren answered, “Let’s go back to where we came in, maybe we can get a way out.”

“Yeah, sure…” Aubrey sighed, putting her bat over her shoulder, smacking on the cuirass with a metallic thunk.

“Alright, return trip!” Morgana said, “Even if it’s a short one.”

The other cognitions just stared in a shocked silence. 

As they walked back up, Aubrey and Kel remained silent. 

No wonder they’d both been so… aggressive towards each other. They were once very close, and both close to someone who was now dead. 

Worse than that, they all lashed out on each other, from the sound of it.

Kel’s awakening wouldn’t be too far off, it seemed, whatever it was that had sparked Aubrey’s was more than likely something he was wrestling with himself. 

“Woah! You have a cool costume now too!” The cognition of Aubrey said to the real as she entered, jumping up and running over to the bottom of the stairs.

“Oh, really?” Aubrey muttered, evidently unsure how to handle compliments.

“Yeah! You can trust me, I’m an expert in cool things.” 

“You think Hector is dumb!” the cognition of Kel puffed, “How can you be an expert with an opinion like that?!”

“It takes a refined sense of taste to understand true coolness, Kel.” 

“Hey, come on. No need to be like this again.” Hero chuckled. 

“We’ll be taking our leave then.” Ren said, walking over to the door at the bottom and twisting the handle. It opened without incident, but rather than opening into the white void, there was a hazy mist in the gap of the wall. Ren blinked, then slowly stepped through it. 

Everything went black. 

His eyes shot open once again, and he was back in the white void. 

The child was there, whatever it truly was.

“You again.” Ren said, sitting up and turning to face it. It simply nodded in response. 

“There’s a new door for you.” It finally spoke, pointing to the only object with color outside of black and white in the place. Slowly, the rest of the group materialized around him, appearing on the plain white square of fabric in an endless sea of white.

The child repeated what it had said, pointing the new arrivals towards the door. 

“That’s Sunny’s door…” Kel muttered, standing next to Ren as his hand twisted the handle. Outside was the dark night they had entered from, visible even from within the Metaverse. 

Ren looked back at the child, who merely nodded. What was its intention? It did _something_ to him, but now it was trying to help them?

Or maybe it just wanted them to leave.

Whichever one it was, Ren took the first step out, leaving the white void behind and returning to the real world. His clothes returned to normal as he stepped outside, followed by Aubrey and Morgana shifting to their real world counterparts. Kel, having never changed at all, had nothing to revert to when returning.

“Interesting night then.” Morgana said, sitting down on Sunny’s doorstep. 

“HUH?! You can talk out here?!” Aubrey sputtered, tensing at the unexpected voice.

“Shhhh, not so loud!” he chided in response, “But yeah, of course I can. Because you now realize I can speak, you can hear me in the real world too.”

“That… huh?” Kel muttered, “Whatever, okay, so this is why Akira- sorry, Ren was always being so chatty with you. He was _actually_ talking to you.”

“Yep! Gee, I’m glad you both catch on quick.” Morgana smiled. Well, as much as his real form could smile anyways.

“Oh crap! It’s late as heck!” Kel said, sliding his phone back into his pocket. “See you guys!” 

“Say fuck, you coward.” Aubrey called after him as he ran inside. She sighed, sliding her hands into her pockets as she leaned on the side of Sunny’s house. 

“Tired?” 

“Yeah. Exhausted is probably more accurate.”

“Everyone is after awakening, don’t worry about it.” Ren chuckled, “But… there’s more you’re holding inside, isn’t there?”

The question went unanswered, verbally or otherwise, but the complete silence gave a clue as to what the true answer was.

“Here, let me go home with you.” Morgana offered, “If you have any questions you can just ask me!”

“No.” She answered firmly, “I’ll be fine. Good night.” 

She walked off into the night. Slowly, like she wasn’t worried about being out that late. 

“Morgana, you should follow her anyways.” Ren nodded, “Just in case.” 

“Alright, but if she gets mad at me I’m telling her.” 

“Fair trade.” Ren chuckled, “Be careful.”

“I always am, Ren. See ya!” 

With that, Morgana scampered off after her, his paws and color allowing him to silently sneak in the shadows around her. 

Ren walked out to the sidewalk and stared back at the dark windows of the house. The motion of a curtain drew his attention, but with it now closed all the way he couldn’t see who it was. 

He had a gut feeling of who, though.

“Don’t worry, Sunny. We’re going to help you.” Ren said aloud. If he could hear it, he gave no indication.

Ren wasn’t going to stay and wait. Even if he was better at hiding it, he was tired too. Whatever happened with the black and white child, it had taken more than its fair share of energy from him. Arsene… Arsene was all he felt within him now. Morgana didn’t question it, he’d returned to using Arsene more than his fair share of times, but this was different.

This was no ordinary Palace, that much was for certain.


	6. Safie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren returns to the Velvet Room in his dreams, and meets some of its other inhabitants.

Ren flopped into the hotel bed still in his clothes. Something about whatever that child did to him drained his entire mental energy, even though they were in that palace for such a short time. 

Then again, losing power over his Personas in an instant like that wasn’t normal either.

He had just played off what happened as if it wasn’t shocking to him. Morgana must have just thought he was using Arsene for shits and giggles, not because it was the only Persona he still had.

“Your rebellious spirit was never broken, my friend.” Arsene spoke in his mind. 

“Yeah, I guess not.” Ren sighed, taking a deep breath before rolling back out to change into something more comfortable. Tomorrow wasn’t going to be busy, that was for sure. He needed a break, Aubrey probably needed a break (assuming she even wanted to help at all), and it wasn’t exactly fair to make Morgana take up all the burden of exploration while dragging along someone who doesn’t have a Persona. He sighed, sliding back into the bed and staring at the ceiling. 

“A dream, huh?” Ren muttered, looking over the saved keywords in his phone, “What an odd form for a palace.”

Ren wasn’t used to being alone at night. Morgana was almost always there with him if he needed someone to talk to. In honesty, he hated being on his own in general, always surrounding himself with people. It was his own choice to have Morgana go, but…

Actually, it was early in the afternoon in Japan, wasn’t it?

Time to make a call to the person who wanted him to come out in the first place.

Futaba never picked up on the first or second ring, and usually not the third. Sometimes the fourth if you were lucky. By the fifth though-

“Heya Ren!” Futaba said. 

“Didn’t expect you to use English.”

“Whaaaat, you’re in  _ America _ , the land of ‘Ber grr grr why aren’t you speaking MY language aagaghahaha’, of course I have to speak in the cursed dialect.”

“Not complaining, easier on my head to not have to swap.”

“Of course, of course.” Futaba mused, “So, what’s happening? Any news?”

“Yeah,” Ren began, “A lot happened actually.”

Ren spent the next few minutes catching her up to speed on what had happened, from finding the keywords, to losing his Personas, to Aubrey’s awakening. 

“Jeez, and the distortion was so powerful Morgana felt it in the real world?” Futaba muttered, “Doesn’t look pretty Ren.”

“Tell me about it,” Ren sighed, “But hey, who am I to turn down a challenge?”

“An idiot who still needs to make it home alive, duh. Sojiro would trounce into hell to slap you if you went and died by getting cocky.”

“He’d do that even if it wasn’t my fault.”

“I would too, in fairness.” 

“Thank you for the reminder.”

“Should I try and get someone to come out? I’m tied down at the minute, but I can get out there in a week or two if all goes well.”

“It… might not be a terrible idea. Summer is pretty busy for everyone though.” 

“Being an adult sucks, doesn’t it?”

“I get free travel benefits, I can’t complain too much.” 

“How you managed to negotiate that kind of shit out of  _ Mitsuru Kirijo _ is beyond me, by the way. That woman scares me.”

“I think she’s very kind.”

“You can be scary and kind! Look at me! I’m terrifying! I could ruin your entire life in an instant!”

“But you would never, would you?”

“Only if you swear your undying fealty.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Seriously though, I can start planning to come out soon if you need the support. You said the place was massive right? I know Morgana’s tracking capabilities are worse with Diego, so you might NEED me. I’d rather be out sooner rather than later to get set up.”

“Up to you, midget.”

“I am not a midget, I was malnourished! If I ate properly I’d probably be just as tall as you!”

“I don’t know about that, but it’d truly be terrifying if that was the case.”

“You are lucky I was condensed to this form, mortal.” 

“I guess I’ll be seeing you soon then?”

“Of course!”

“Good night then, Futaba.”

“Oh, yeah it’s… what, ten there now? Eleven?”

“Closer to eleven now, yeah.” 

“Well I’ll just talk to you later then. Good night, bastard!”

“Night, midget.”

Ren plugged his phone in and rested his head on his pillow. 

He didn’t like to think about it much, but despite being the leader, he tended to rely on other people a lot. Even if not physically, just knowing he had people behind him seemed to just give him this energy he wouldn’t have otherwise.

Perhaps Sunny was similar? Although he could just be a recluse like Futaba, it was hard to tell without meeting him directly. He’d developed something like him in his mind, that black and white child. It wasn’t his shadow, according to Morgana anyways, it was something else. 

His mind had several odd cognitions in it. Shadows weren’t hiding themselves as anything, merely roaming around as they were. 

The size and oddities of Mementos combined with the danger of a lethal palace… 

Ren closed his eyes, and entered a dream for the second time that night. 

He opened his eyes in his thief attire, judging by the mask on his face, staring at a dimly lit blue ceiling.

The Velvet Room. 

He flipped off of the hard bunk, facing out into the center of the prison chamber.

Igor sat waiting, with Lavenza at his side.

“Greetings, Trickster. It seems you are in need of our services again.” Igor said, in his usual high pitched voice. His nose was just as long as usual as well, something that Ren didn’t think he would ever truly get used to.

“That obvious, eh?” Ren replied, stepping out of the cell and before the desk in the chamber’s center. 

“The state of a Wild Card is something we have… a certain amount of knowledge of. While some of the minute changes you’ve made to your Personas are not worthy of attention, to have your power repressed with such vigor is…” 

“Most unusual.” Igor picked up, “You seem to be in quite the predicament, up against the most incomprehensible of foes.”

“My power lies in the fusion, summoning, and empowerment of Personas.” Lavenza continued, “To free Personas that have been repressed, however, is another matter entirely.”

“So that’s what the child did to me then?”

“You are astute to assume so.” Igor answered, “Why such a power lies within the mind of a young boy is something outside of your grasp. To reclaim your powers, on the other hand, is not.” 

The walls behind Igor pulled apart, opening to reveal a wider chamber. Three figures were awaiting in the new back section of the Velvet Room, one resting on a chair, another at a grand piano, and the third standing before an intricate microphone.

“Please, meet your new acquaintances. They will be essential to reclaiming what’s within you.” Igor motioned, raising one of his long arms to the side to invite Ren to step around. 

As Ren approached, he got a better look at the new inhabitants of the Velvet Room. At least, new to  _ his _ Velvet Room. The two to the rear looked more fitting to the place, with blue accents in their clothes, with the pianist having a blue fabric covering his eyes and the singer having blue eyeliner and lipstick. The one closest to him, on the other hand, seemed faintly familiar, resembling someone he’d met recently. Her short black hair hung to her shoulders, with a simple white dress covering the length of her body. Her eyes were what stuck out, oddly enough. Pure golden yellow, as seemed to be common for supernatural beings. 

“You must be the Trickster, then.” she spoke. Her voice had a gentle tone, as if trying to come off as motherly. Odd, considering she only looked about as old as he was, if not slightly younger. 

“A pleasure to meet you.” Ren replied, “I’m-”

“I’m aware of your true name, Trickster, even if you are not aware of mine.” She said, waving down Ren before he could fully introduce himself. “You may call me Safie. I can help you to find those which are intentionally repressed. It is my specialty, as well as the specialty of all of us here.”

Ren silently nodded, moving along to the other two. The pianist was closer, so Ren spoke to him first.

“I am Nameless, a pianist floating in the Sea of Souls. Souls are the essence of my music, and from it I can free your own. Ninety seven thousand and five hundred seventy one nights have passed since my service began, and more shall no doubt follow.”

The singer was next, as she sat silent waiting for his approach. “I am Belladonna, I seek to serve those who challenge the monsters within one's own heart, as well as they who seek to free others from their grasp.” 

Both having introduced themselves, they began to perform in duet. 

Belladonna carried the forefront, her powerful voice supported by Nameless at the piano.

“An Aria for the Soul, they call it.” Safie said, faintly smiling. “The waking world awaits for you, Trickster.”

“Thank you, everyone.” Ren said, returning to the main part of the chamber.

“When the time comes, Trickster, we shall be awaiting you.” Lavenza said. “Please, return to yourself. You’ll find the entrance to this place closer than you might believe.”

Ren acknowledged his attendant with a nod, returning to the cell he had awoken in. He no longer needed to go back into the bed to return to reality, only to focus, and…

His eyes shot open in the real world, staring at the hotel room ceiling. The exhaustion from the night before had melted away, though to say he was entirely re-energized would be a lie.

Pulling himself out of bed, he checked the time. 8:42, not bad. Certainly was a lot earlier than he was used to waking up. He stretched, and pulled on a fresh set of clothes. Jeans, with a thin white and black tee. Time to settle in to where he’d be staying at least a few weeks. He’d have to learn where all the good food was, he was starving.

Just the day to go exploring then.


	7. Decrepit House and Greasy Pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren spends his first day really exploring Faraway, getting better acquainted with his first two new allies.

First order of business, find Morgana. 

Second order of business, find food.

Third order of business… can be decided later. 

One issue, Ren had no idea where Aubrey actually lived, and asking around town where a sixteen year old girl lived wasn’t exactly high on his to do list.

Considering the direction she was going, she probably lived at least somewhat near Basil, but… 

Wouldn’t hurt to just take a walk around, no?

Ren left the hotel, the morning breeze uncommonly cool for the start of summer. Retracing his steps through the main part of town and past the plaza, he made his way through the residential parts of town. 

Deciding to check the church side first, Ren looked around the houses. Some were… evidently more well kept than others. One in particular caught his eye, looking almost condemned just by a glance at the outside and the hole he saw in the roofing. Nobody would be living there, so he moved on. He started calling out for Morgana, making his way past houses. If Morgana was in any, he’d have no trouble getting outside. Somehow he was capable of things like picking locks in his cat form, so unlocking a door from the inside would be easy as pie. And yet…

He never responded. 

Houses gave way to the church, and from there… nothing. 

Could they possibly…? 

Ren’s feet carried him inside the church, which was empty. He continued through to enter the cemetery once more.

A flash of pink caught his eye, with a black cat sitting on its haunches in the grass beside it. Aubrey and Morgana. 

Both turned to face him as he approached, Aubrey resting a hand on her bat.

“What do you want?” she muttered, her eyes thinning into a glare. Morgana looked over to her, his tail resting at his front paws. 

“I was looking for Morgana, actually.” Ren said, his hands sliding into his pockets. 

“Of course you were.”

“What, would you prefer if I was looking for you?”

“Maybe.”

The three stood in the lull of the conversation, Aubrey turning back to the grave she was sitting before… Mari’s grave. 

“I’m assuming you’re here for a reason other than simply that you miss her?”

“Well no shit, you were there in that… Palace, I think you called it. You saw what I did.”

“Destroying that cognition set your mind in motion to realize your persona, though.”

“I don’t give a shit about that.”

Birds chirped mindlessly in the background, the wind bringing creaking from the branches above. 

“I hear Bellona's voice, but... it scares me.”

“Scares you?”

“She’s… violent. Incredibly so. She respects what I did,  _ enjoyed _ it. She reveled in the violence against those who’d ‘wronged me.’ But…”

“A Persona is only one aspect of one’s character.” Ren said, sitting down in the grass with the other two, “Another one of my friends’ Personas was, in a sense, a manifestation of the power they wanted, to have control over others, to  _ dominate _ … even if they themselves didn’t usually think in such terms. Everyone has parts of themselves they don’t always bring to light.”

“Aren’t you a walking encyclopedia, you and the damn cat.”

“Hey! I’m not a cat!” Morgana said, “We’ve been over this!”

“It’s just our area of expertise, you know? If you were explaining something you’d been studying for three years you’d probably have a lot to say too.” Ren said, raising his hands in a mock surrender. Aubrey rolled her eyes and looked back at Mari’s headstone. 

“That doesn’t change how I feel regardless. One aspect of myself or not, I still… I still defaced some part of Mari. Worse than that, I killed it. Shattered its head with a bat… but why?”

“You were angry at the fact that Sunny was keeping her alive in his cognition… at running from the truth.”

“I guess, and yet here I am… running from the truth.”

“Doesn’t the fact that you’re aware you’re running mean that you’ve accepted it on some level? You said it yourself, you’re running from the  _ truth _ .” Morgana said, tilting his head.

“Shut up, catboy.” she muttered, pushing Morgana on his side.

“I’ll just ignore the cat part.” Morgana said, stretching out in the grass.

“We aren’t here to antagonize you, regardless of how hard you seem to be trying.” 

“Take your friend and go.” Aubrey said, “I don’t…”

“Fair enough.” Ren said, standing up, “Don’t let the exhaustion get to you, Aubrey.” 

She didn’t respond as Morgana followed Ren out of the Faraway Cemetery.

“Hey, Ren.” Morgana began as soon as they were out of earshot, “I followed Aubrey home like you asked, and…” 

“Well?” 

“Just… follow me.” 

Morgana led them down the street, stopping in front of the abandoned looking house.

Ren stood in silence for a few moments, taking it in before finally asking, “She lives here… doesn’t she?”

Morgana silently nodded.

Ren walked up to the door, his gaze drawn to the grime on the knob.

Things made a little more sense now.

Aubrey needed help, but she didn’t want it. 

The smell from inside… it was seeping from under the door, through the cracks that had appeared in the doorframe.

Silent fury steeled Ren's spine.

“Morgana, I think we have a job that needs done soon.”

“I agree. If you think it’s bad out here… It’s worse inside. I had to go out to a little lake I found yesterday to clean my paws.” 

What the hell do you even do in this situation? What was it in America… CPS? Was emancipation even an option for Aubrey legally? Where would she go? Would she even  _ want _ to go? There’s no way she was fine with her life, and yet…

All options pointed to the Metaverse.

“The sooner the better, right?”

“Of course.” Ren said, “We’ll have to figure out her name.”

“Think she’d be in public records?” Morgana said, tailing behind as Ren walked towards the plaza, “Where would those even be in America though? Online? Somewhere like a town hall?”

“We can talk about it later, after we get food. Now that Aubrey knows about the Metaverse, she might be more hesitant to give out things like names, including her own.”

“Oooooh, speaking of, she needs a codename!”

“That’s assuming she wants to ever return to Sunny’s palace at all.” 

Morgana loudly hummed, ignoring Ren’s point of her potentially not wanting to return. More had to have been said, but better to let them keep their secrets until Aubrey wanted to share them.

If she was anything like he was assuming, she would be… less than pleased if Morgana blabbed.

“Where should we go to eat, Morgana?”

“Fish.”

“Aside from fish, I’m not sure this is exactly the place for seafood.”

“Oh, good point… Wasn’t there a pizza place in the plaza? We could try that!”

“Doesn’t cheese make you sick?” 

“Just get extra pepperoni and I’ll eat that.”

“No anchovies?”

“I thought we agreed to never talk about anchovies ever again, Ren.”

“I know, I know, just teasing.”

He was absolutely still going to talk about the anchovies, regardless of foul they were.

Their chatter continued as they entered Gino’s, wherein Morgana opted to be hidden in Ren’s bag to avoid being kicked out. The pizza wasn’t anything too special, but it certainly wasn’t bad either. About what he expected. Morgana nibbled down the pepperoni, placed inside on a napkin to avoid the grease staining the inside of his bag. The bell on the door rang, causing Ren to look over at the entrance. 

It was Kel. 

Ren waved, his mouth full. Kel’s eyes lit up and he walked over, sitting down at the small table Ren was at. 

“Hey, how’d you sleep?”

“Fine enough,” Ren shrugged, “You?”

“Ah… wasn’t able to sleep much. Too excited, too much on my mind.”

“Hey, you seem pretty functional to me at least. What brings you?”

“Picking up food for later when my bro arrives.”

“Wouldn’t a pizza get cold pretty fast?” 

“Yeah, i’m not picking up a pizza,” Kel replied, holding out a ticket for a… Hero Sandwich? 

“Dang, going to a pizza place for a sandwich…” Morgana sighed, audibly licking his lips even inside the bag.

“Wait, Morgana’s with you?” Kel muttered, “Whatever, yeah. It’s good, I promise! Probably the best thing on the menu.”

“I’ll have to try it some other time then. Want some of this while you’re here? I was just gonna box up what’s left.”

“Oh, thanks!” Kel said, taking two slices onto a plate. Ren felt the bag in his lap shift as Morgana flopped onto his side.

“So… about your brother. You never really spoke about him.”

“Oh, Hero… He’s studying to be a doctor, for one. He’s tall, kinda like you, and you’re the same age I’m pretty sure. You said you were 19, right?”

“Yeah, so he’s in college then?”

“Yup! He’s always been pretty hard working, but even more so with college.”

“You sound pretty fond of him.”

“Well, of course I am. He’s my brother, you know.”

“Yeah, I get the feeling.” Ren laughed, “I’ll have to meet him.”

“Well I’ll be dragging him every which way, so it wouldn’t hurt! Let you two avoid that weird thing college age people do where they just like… stare at each other. Don’t say anything, don’t do anything, just… stare. Then slowly move on. It’s weird!” Kel said, before promptly shoving another bite of pizza in his mouth. 

“I already paid for it, so feel free to finish it.” Ren said, slowly putting his bag over his shoulder to give Morgana time to adjust. See you later then?

“Yeah-huh, see ya Ren!”


	8. Meeting a Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren has a walk around Faraway and meets Kel's brother.

Ren felt the weight on his shoulder shift as Morgana pulled himself up to stick his head out of his bag. 

“So now what? Looking around?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. A place to buy medical supplies, a place to buy weapons, and good places to spend time.”

“Iwai offered to ship you weapons, you know.” 

“Yeah, but that’s expensive. Especially because they need customs clearance. I’d rather save that for later on once we have an idea of what everybody uses.”

“Jeez… money…” Morgana groaned, “I hate money.”

“Is that because you don’t have thumbs?”

“Hey…! Only partially…”

“Don’t worry Morgana, I wish I didn’t have to pay for things either, but we steal hearts.”

“Maybe you should work on your flirting so you can steal literal hearts.”

“Look who’s talking.” Ren said smugly, poking Morgana on the nose. 

“If I wasn’t contained in this form I would have like… seven girlfriends! Maybe more!”

“No loyalty? For shame, Morgana…” 

Their mutual teasing continued as Ren followed the streets, looking up and down at the shops as they passed. They’d already passed the hardware store in the plaza a few times, but the rest of the town was still mostly a mystery.

Many of the places seemed to be family owned or run, and while most didn’t pique Ren’s fancy he did note a few to check out later. Besides, chinese food was always a good time. In terms of what he was actually looking for though, he only found places of leisure. Granted, he hadn’t expected to find a replica or airsoft shop in specific out here, but it was worth a look. A few small pharmacies were around, but none seemed like the type to not ask any question about a 19 year old buying medicine in bulk.

Seemed like he’d have to get in touch with old contacts.

Well, prepare to, anyways. He hadn’t walked through all of the town yet, there was still the potential for a good find.

“Hey, do you think we should check back with someone?” Morgana asked, “Maybe we could get some more info out of Kel’s brother!”

“Yeah, I guess. Might help with sorting out Sunny’s Palace and Aubrey’s… living situation.”

“Yeah… I hope so anyways. You need to be a lot more subtle with him though, Ren. If he’s a med student we can assume he’s smart.”

“I also doubt he’s done any med courses yet though, aside from general admission ones. He’s like my age, remember?”

“Don’t Americans have it wayyyy worse when it comes to getting into college though?”   


“Some of them,” Ren shrugged, “I’m not gonna pretend like I know.”

“Pretend better then!” Morgana huffed, “You might have to!”

Ren looked over to see Kim, the girl that Kel and Basil had been arguing with the day prior staring confusedly at Ren and Morgana. 

“Are you talking to your cat?”

“Absolutely.” Ren said in a perfect deadpan voice, even if his expression didn’t match.

“He’s… cute.” 

“Aha!  _ Someone _ appreciates me.” Morgana said, puffing out his chest. 

“God you’re so thirsty for attention," Ren said, scritching at Morgana’s face.

“Hey, I uh… know we’re not on… great terms. But… can I pet your cat?”

“Such is the price I pay for recognition.” Morgana sighed, pulling his body out so his chin would be more easily reachable by Kim. A purr escaped his mouth as Kim scratched beneath his chin. Cat-shaped form or not, Morgana had all the same weaknesses as the real thing. 

“Say, what  _ is _ your deal anyways?” Kim asked, looking back up at Ren, “I heard from Mikhael that you were asking about where Aubrey was yesterday, and she’s been all weirdly gloomy today.”

“I wasn’t lying when I said I was looking into her old friend, she helped out.”

“Huh?! She actually helped you?!”

“Why do you sound so shocked by that?”

“I mean… it’s just odd for her to be…” Kim started, waving her hands around while trying to find the words, “Whatever, yeah. You probably get it.”

“Mostly.”

“But, yeah… you’re really odd. Have a cute cat though, so I guess it balances out.”

“Oh, I’m wounded.”

“That’s payback for making fun of the scooters, then.” she huffed.

“Ah, come to think of it,” Ren said, “Do you know if there’s any gun model or airsoft shop around here?”

Kim just shrugged, “No nothing like that, just an actual gun store. Out here people interested in guns just buy real ones.”

“Ah, guess I’ll just have to look into one then... Thanks.”

“Uh… yeah.” she muttered, evidently unsure what he’d be looking into such a thing for.

What she didn’t know wouldn't hurt her.

At the same time… using the real thing in a palace would be a lot more powerful, no doubt. They’d just also have to be a LOT more careful with them.

And in terms of Aubrey… 

Hmm… Maybe he could get them modified to be models in the real world? They’d still be authentic, keeping them cognitively powerful…

“That’s a headache for another day,” Ren thought out loud, filing the info away in his mind. “Thanks again.” 

“You’re welcome… I think.” Kim replied, “I’ll just be going.”

“So then, where to next?” Morgana asked, rather proud of himself judging by the tone of his voice.

“Well I wanted to just walk around and explore, but… I guess we could just check on either Kel or Aubrey.”

“Who first, though?” Morgana asked, “We’ve seen both of them today.” 

“I guess it depends on if Kel’s brother is back yet or not.” Ren shrugged, “But I don’t have a way to ask…”

“You know, you’d think that by now you’d be better at trading numbers with people.”

“Hey, there is a stigma to asking for people’s numbers Morgana.”

“Not if you’re devilishly handsome like I am.” Morgana said, jumping out of Ren’s bag and onto the sidewalk, “Catch you later!”

“Wait, Morgana-” Ren began as his friend ran off through the town. With a sigh, Ren took off after him, following through the bustle of people by tracking the flash of white on the tip of his tail. Morgana took a long way around, passing back to the train station at the edge of town. 

And standing outside of that station was a teenager in an orange jersey. 

“Aha! I knew I smelled him!” Morgana said, bounding up the steps. 

“Huh? Morgana?” Kel said, turning around and looking down at the meowing cat, “Do I smell bad?”

“Yeah actually, but not the point!” Morgana said, “I’m here to get your number for Ren!” 

“And he had me running off after him…” Ren sighed, stepping up behind Morgana.

“Well you’re just in time, actually!” Kel said with a giant grin, “The train should be arriving aaaaaany minute now!” 

“Perfect, I’ll go get Aubrey’s number too then!” Morgana said, running off, “Stay here!” 

“He seems pretty high energy today, eh?”

“Yeah, he got attention and it has him pumped.” Ren chuckled, “Cat or not, he sure acts like one.”

Their chatter was interrupted by the sound of the oncoming train, lights blaring to get people away from the tracks. The train slowed to a halt, the doors opening and a small group of people walking out. Poking above most of the rest of the crowd was someone whose hair matched in color with Kel’s, their eyes looking over the group as they walked. Catching sight of Kel, the person quickly walked over. 

They matched the third person in Sunny’s Palace, meaning he must have been Hero.

As if on cue, Kel ran over and raised his hand for a high five. 

“Hero, up high!”

“Alright, alright,” he replied, the two brothers’ hand smacking together with a loud clap. 

“So, who’re you?” Hero asked, turning from his brother towards Ren. 

“This is Ren, he’s my new friend!” 

“Well, pleased to meet you. My name’s Henry.”

“Ah, that makes more sense, Hero’s just a nickname then.”

“Yeah, long story.” he said, complemented by a sheepish chuckle.

“Well, let’s get home! Mom’s gotta be dying to see you!”

“Should I get going then?” Ren said, only for Kel to answer by grabbing his arm and dragging him along.

“So, Hero, what’s college like? Meet any new friends?” 

“Nah, not many.” he sighed, “Just… don’t really mesh with a lot of them.”

“I’d hope that’s normal for most people.” Ren said, “You’d have to be… pretty damn fake to mesh with  _ everyone _ , or even just most people.”

“I guess…” Henry shrugged, “You seem to be doing better in that department than me, Kel.” 

“You’re just scared someone’s gonna call you a nerd.” Kel grinned, “And they’d be right!”

“Come on, Kel… I just got back and you’re already teasing me again?”

“Love you too, bro.” Kel replied, poking his brother in the side and running off ahead. 

“Well,” Henry chuckled, “What brings  _ you _ to Faraway then?”

“About that, actually,” Ren said, “I’m… looking for Sunny Suzuki.”

“Oh…” Henry said, his expression darkening in an instant, “Are you a relative of his?”

“No, not that I know anyways, I’m just here to help him out.”

“That’s… noble, I suppose,” Henry said with a shrug, “In all honesty, I’m… not sure I’m ready to talk about any of that.”

“Entirely fair, don’t worry.” Ren said, “I have leads already…”

“Well that’s good. Have you managed to get in contact with his mother at all?”

“No, actually. I haven’t seen her or Sunny himself at all, not directly.” 

“Huh… odd.”

The two followed Kel in silence for a few moments before Hero started speaking again.

“Things have been… odd here the last few years. It’s more than just… personal experiences, I guess. Kind of like the whole town has…  _ something _ hanging over it, you know?”

“I mean, I can’t deny I’ve been feeling there’s just something off here.”

“When I left, there were quite a few… issues on the rise. I know drugs had started being a problem a few years ago too, and I’m only assuming that's gotten worse.”

"Really, huh?"

Perhaps something related to Aubrey and her mother? Might be worth a shot.

“Oh yeah, on a tangential note, Aubrey. Do you know her?”

“Yeah, we used to be friends a… a long time ago. Why?”

“Well, I’ve been looking into her family too, and… I just wanted to know if you knew anything about her situation.” 

“No,” Hero said, shaking his head firmly, “In hindsight, she never let us really go to her house…”

“Well, you’re another adult, I… might need your help with something tomorrow.”

“Does Aubrey need help?”

Ren just slowly nodded. Hero looked down at his shoes. 

“Figures… I don’t know much of her family, but I do know that her father left a few years back, and when I was still around I’d been overhearing… gossip. You know, the kinda stuff old ladies bicker about in a supermarket.”

“I get the type.” Ren sighed, his memory flashing back to working part time in a convenience store. Miserable work, miserable pay, and he had to wear a horrendously loud outfit the entire time he was behind the counter. 

“Yeah… so you see where I’m going then.”

“Yup.”

Aubrey’s mother was the way she was purely by her own volition.

The festering house Aubrey had to live in…

“Hey, before I forget, this is my number.” Henry said, pulling out his phone and quickly opening his personal contact, “Just shoot me a text when you need me to help with Aubrey. We might not be close anymore… but we were at one point. She’s still my friend.”

“Thanks, I’ve been meaning to get her and Kel’s numbers too.”

“Oh, then here’s Kel’s while I have my phone out.”

Why Kel’s contact was named “Orange Joe Man” was a question for another day.

“Let’s catch up before he gets himself into trouble.” Ren laughed, starting to jog.

“I see you’re pretty familiar with how he goes about his life already then.” Henry laughed.

“He’s not too good at hiding things.” Ren shrugged, “At least you don’t have to worry about him being a shoplifter.”

* * *

“So… Aubrey is… back here.” Morgana said, padding through the treeline towards the lake he had washed his paws in. 

The blondie was here too… Basil was it? He could tell they were arguing about something, but his ears were  _ sensitive _ , not so much geared for understanding things from a distance. 

Their yelling got louder, the blond backed further and further down the pier... 

Until there was none left.


	9. Cold Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basil struggles in the water, and it takes more than one person to get him out.

“Basil?!” Aubrey yelled, her anger quickly sparking to confusion and then concern. She ran towards the edge, looking over the edge of the pier and into the water. She thrust her arm into the water, grasping at Basil’s arm. He was… fighting, struggling against her trying to bring him out. Morgana turned and ran, running off howling for help. She pulled Basil’s head out of the water, and he choked out the water as he struggled to breathe. Seeing Aubrey, he kept struggling, trying anything to get away from her. What was his damn problem?! Didn’t he want his damn album back?

“Stay back, I won’t let you hurt me!”

“I’m trying to save you dumbass!” Aubrey said, tugging as Basil flailed with all the might in his body to fall back into the water. 

One strong tug dragged Aubrey to her stomach, 100 pounds of anxious teenager pulling her off her balance. One more tug dragged her unsupported body into the water as well. 

* * *

“REN! RENNNNNNN! WE NEED HELP!” Morgana yelled, pelting through the park towards the road. Ren looked over in shock, Henry turning with him and looking confused. 

“What’s wrong Morgana?” Ren asked, hopping the fence and running over.

“It’s Aubrey and Basil! He… fell into the lake!”

Ren didn’t wait for more explanation, he took off after Morgana. Henry climbed over the fence and followed, evidently very confused. 

“Aubrey?! Where are you?!” Morgana yowled, looking towards the mass of bubbles at the surface of the water.

“Henry, help me.” Ren said, tossing his phone and wallet into the grass and jumping into the water. 

A second splash soon after he jumped in informed him that Henry had pursued, evidently confused as hell by what was going on, but getting just enough of the situation to know he needed to help. 

Ren struggled to keep his eyes open in the water, catching sight of two fighting black shapes. They separated with a kick, a pink mass of hair smacking directly into Ren. He surfaced with Aubrey, coughing to catch his breath.

“What the heck happened?!” Morgana yelled, standing at the water’s edge. 

“He effin’ dragged me in!” Aubrey coughed, “He…” she continued, looking around her.

Henry hadn’t surfaced. 

“Who… else jumped in with you? Kel?”

“No, it was-” Ren began, only to be interrupted by the man in question dragging Basil to the surface while gasping for air himself. 

Aubrey remained silent, swimming back to the edge of the lake while Ren swam over to help pull Basil out. 

“Hey, call someone. He… swallowed a lot of water I’m pretty sure.” Henry ordered, “He’ll need to go to the hospital.”

“Right, on it.” Ren said, shaking the water out of his air and grabbing his phone. Aubrey… was already running off. She was soaked from head to toe like everyone else, but… 

Was Kel too far ahead to even hear what happened? He’d probably be realizing soon, then running back… 

“Morgana, go get Kel. We might need his help.” Ren asked, dialing 911.

Henry was evidently at least knowledgeable on the basics of helping a drowning victim, trying to drain some of the water out of Basil’s body.

Not the happy homecoming he’d probably been expecting. 

It would take a few minutes for anyone to be able to arrive, so Ren set to helping Henry take care of Basil. 

He had a pulse, but it was weak and he still wasn’t breathing, even as Henry began chest compressions. 

Seconds felt like hours as Kel arrived, and after a few more minutes EMTs started to show up, taking over from Henry and taking Basil into their care.

The trio, with Morgana still absent, left not long after Basil had been taken away.

“We… should tell Basil’s grandmother.” Henry said slowly as they left the lake’s vicinity. 

“And we should probably just stay away from that lake from now on… considering Sunny and Basil almost drowned in it.” Kel sighed, scratching at his hair.

“Yeah, I guess. Not like we’ve got any reason to go there anymore.” Henry sighed. 

“Although, his caretaker wasn’t exactly keen to see us yesterday.” Ren sighed.

“Telling her Basil’s in danger will handle that part, I’m sure of it.”

“Come to think of it, shouldn’t you two change into something less… soaked?” Kel suggested, looking between the older pair.

“Ah.” Henry said, “That isn’t… a terrible idea.”

“Kel, would you be fine to run ahead to Basil’s house then?” Ren asked, his question answered by a nod and Kel running off to the next street over.

“Guess this is a goodbye for now then?” Henry said, “I guess I’ll be seeing you later, once things… calm down a little.”

“Seems like it.” Ren said, “Sayonara.”

“Adios.” 

Both turned and took their separate ways, Henry walking towards his home and Ren returning to the hotel to get dry and take off his now sopping wet clothes. 

The water was cold, but the summer sun had already mostly warmed him up again. It didn’t stop his clothes from sticking to him, but it was better than being freezing cold. 

And it certainly beat drowning. 

* * *

Fresh clothes, fresh hair, fresh breath... hopefully. 

Today was far from a day to relax and unwind, it seemed. 

But… 

Ren pulled out his phone and started texting

J0ker: This is actually you, right Henry?

HenryDesoto2000: Ren? 

HenryDesoto2000: Didn’t expect a name like that.

J0ker: I mean, I can’t say I expected you to use your full name and birth year

HenryDesoto2000: Look, I had no idea what to put and I was getting pestered to start using this chat app.

J0ker: It looks nice doesn’t it

HenryDesoto2000: It’s very… stylish. 

J0ker: Heh

HenryDesoto2000: How did you get a name that short anyways?

J0ker: Early adopter, app started in Japan so I got the first grab at it

HenryDesoto2000: Oh, you’re actually from Japan? 

J0ker: Yep

HenryDesoto2000: Could have fooled me, you’re pretty fluent.

J0ker: My sister friend is more fluent technically, but she’s a nerd so she uses internet slang in real life

HenryDesoto2000: Trust me, Kel does the same thing sometimes.

HenryDesoto2000: One time he described something as “poggers” and I just genuinely had no idea how to even react to what he said.

J0ker: BWAAHAHAHAHAAHA

J0ker: Punch him in the arm for me

HenryDesoto2000: I would, but he isn’t back here yet.

HenryDesoto2000: When he gets back I’ll update you.

J0ker: Nah you don’t need to, I was only mostly kidding

HenryDesoto2000: Mostly kidding?

HenryDesoto2000: I know I’m not kidding about it.

J0ker: Legend

HenryDesoto2000: Heh

J0ker: Should I come over soon or nah? 

J0ker: You and Kel are probably gonna be celebrating with family, so

HenryDesoto2000: We definitely have the room for it, so I guess that’s up to you.

J0ker: I’ll probably drop in at some point then

J0ker: btw, if you see Kel talking to a black and white cat that’s Morgana

HenryDesoto2000: The one that yowled at us for you to follow them, yeah?

HenryDesoto2000: They seem pretty smart, I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if they COULD speak.

J0ker: I’ll just keep that in mind

HenryDesoto2000: ???

J0ker: Don’t worry about it

J0ker: I’ll try and find Kel on my way over 

HenryDesoto2000: I’ll text you if he gets back first then.

J0ker: Sayonara 

HenryDesoto2000: Cheers.

Hanging the towel he was using to dry his hair, Ren stepped out of the room and into the hotel hallway. It was late in the afternoon now, a bit past five, so while it wasn’t getting dark yet it was certainly cooling down. The sun was at enough of an angle to shine through the windows. 

The sunlight illuminated a blue door, directly at the opposite end of the hallway. 

An entrance to the Velvet Room.

The Velvet Key felt unnaturally heavy in his pocket, as if yearning to be used. He noted the spot for later, he had places to be.

It seemed like every few hours he was yelling for Morgana. Seems he really liked being out and about, with tons of space to roam around. He didn’t mind much, it helped him keep his form, but…

If he couldn’t find Morgana, he should find Kel.

Ren retraced the path Kel had led him down to Basil’s house, standing once more outside the plant covered house. He rang the doorbell and stood for a few moments. No response. He rang again. Sighing, he grasped at the door handle.

It was unlocked, and silently slid open.

“Hello?” Ren called, peering inside the door. It was incredibly dark inside, with the windows being covered by blinds despite the amount of plants inside. Ren peered around, confused as to the lack of any noise in the house. 

He pushed the door open further, calling out again if anybody was inside. 

“Polly must have left when Kel told her…” Ren convinced himself out loud, closing the door behind him as he stepped out. 

But… that didn’t answer the question of where Kel had gone to, or Morgana for that matter. They weren’t in trouble were they? 

Time to use the second number Henry gave him.

“Hey, who is this?” Kel said, answering his phone rather quickly.

“It’s Ren, where are you?”

“Near the hospital, why?”

“Henry’s looking for you.”

“OHHHH YEAH! WE WERE GONNA HAVE HIS PARTY!” Kel exclaimed, “Whoops, I’ll have to call and tell Mom. I went with Polly to check up on Basil, and I kinda… forgot. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Oh! Yeah! This means you can have my part of dinner!”

“I’d hope me visiting your family wouldn’t prevent you from eating.”

“I think you underestimate just how much I eat, my friend.” Kel said, a hint of pride in his voice, “An athlete’s portion is far larger than the average person’s!”

The memories of how much Ryuji and Sumire seemed to be able to eat in one sitting flooded back into his mind. He sincerely hoped, if just for the sake of Kel’s parents, that his appetite was not nearly as insatiable.

“Trust me, I know.” Ren said simply.

“How’d you get my number anyways?” 

“Your brother.”

“Oh! You should get Aubrey’s too!”

“That’s a bit difficult right now, Kel.” Ren sighed, walking down Basil and Aubrey’s street towards the latter’s house. Obviously, nothing had changed about it. It was just as it had been that morning. 

Something compelled him to walk up to the door. 

He knew he wouldn’t want to see what was behind the door, assuming it would even open… 

His hand grasped the knob of the door.

If he was going to help, he had to know what was inside.

“Ren, you there?” Kel asked, wondering why Ren had stopped talking as the door creaked open.


	10. Of Break Ins and Vomiting Out

The first thing that hit Ren was the stench.

It was far, FAR worse inside than it was outside.

The second was the filth.

Garbage sat in piles around the room, with a defined path. Sickeningly enough, there were clear shoe prints in the grime along the floor. 

Third was the TV, followed immediately after by the person watching it, the person he could only assume was the owner of the house.

The person who would be Aubrey’s mom.

They hadn’t turned their head, nor did they make any note of him opening the door. He stepped over the threshold of the property, the noise of his footsteps hidden by whatever was coating the ground. Alcohol, probably…

Was this trespassing? Aubrey was his… acquaintance. Besides, he’d probably be fine if he just said he was worried for the safety of someone inside. Of course, that was assuming law enforcement got involved at all. Aubrey’s mother still didn’t move, even as he walked far enough ahead to see that her eyes were indeed open. She just… didn’t look at him at all, even as he walked all the way past her. Her eyes seemed almost glazed over, as if she wasn’t truly alive or awake despite her breathing and the television she was watching.

She was a shell of a human being. 

Ren would have pitied her if she wasn’t dragging Aubrey down with her. 

He’d assumed the neglect was awful, but…

They weren’t even taking care of themselves.

Ren continued further in, compelled by something in the back of his head to keep looking. A ladder stuck out to Ren, out of place in how clean it was in comparison to everything else in the house. At the top, there was a room, and inside of it was Aubrey glaring daggers down at him.

“So Ren, mind telling me what the fuck you’re doing here?”

“Part of it was checking in on you, the other part was wondering what the hell went wrong in this house.”

“And that’s none of your business. Get the hell out.”

“So you’re fine living like this?”

“No, I just don’t want  _ your _ help to deal with it.”

“Aubrey, you need help, even if you don’t want it,” Ren said, stepping closer to the ladder, “Just like Sunny does.”

“Don’t compare me to him.” Aubrey said, venom burning through her voice, “Don’t compare me to the kinds of people who just leave ‘problems’ like their friends and family behind.” 

“Yet, from what everyone seems to say, you’ve been doing just that. You don’t have to, we’re willing to help.”

“Just go away,” Aubrey said, walking out of view. 

“You have the photo album with you still, don’t you?”

Aubrey didn’t answer.

“You don’t have to face your problems alone, as much as you may think you deserve to.”

“Leave me alone for fuck’s sake! I don’t want to deal with this bullshit savior complex you have, IT’S MY FUCKING CHOICE TO MAKE!”

Ren was nothing if not stubborn though, making this a battle of two immovable objects.

“Then make it, Aubrey. There’s no way you like this place.”

“Well what am I supposed to do then, huh?” she said, stepping back into view, “Tell me.”

“We use the same power we’re using to help Sunny.”

"Then I'm going to do it without you."

"And how exactly do you plan to?"

"Fuck off."

"That… isn't an answer."

"GET OUT OR I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"

"Go ahead."

She was trying to bluff, she couldn't call the police without the state of the house being called into question. Even if she did, Ren had more than enough tricks up his sleeve. It was dirty, but she wasn't going to let anyone help her otherwise.

"Aubrey, we both want to help you." Morgana said, his voice coming from the room above.

Aubrey's gaze quickly jumped from Ren to the source of the noise, looking somewhere in the room that Ren couldn't see from how low of an angle he was at.

“I knew something was in here! Leave Bun-Bun alone!” 

“I didn’t lay a claw on him! I promise! He’s very lovable!”

Ren took a step back to peer back at Aubrey’s mother, noting she still hadn’t moved. 

“Will you just leave me alone if I go alone with this?”

“Probably not, if I’m going to go into Sunny’s palace I’m going to need as many persona users on my side as I can get.”

“Go beg Kel then, he seemed more than happy enough. Hell, maybe you can drag one of the friends he doesn’t have into it too.”

“I’d prefer to keep Sunny’s inner thoughts to people close to him.”

“Well hey? Guess what? We aren’t close.”

“I’d imagine he still thinks of you as such. You met the version of you inside his palace, didn’t you?”

“That isn’t me, it hasn’t been me since he left us all.”

“And he hasn’t seen you since then either. He doesn’t know what you’re like now.”

“And he’d fucking hate me like I hate him.”

“Aubrey, people don’t hate you.”

“You think I’m stupid enough to believe that?”

“No, I think you’re confusing you pushing everyone away with everyone pushing you away.” Ren said, “You already have friends in your scooter gang, no?”

“They follow me. They think the mask is cool, they’d hate me just the same if I turned how I was on them. They haven’t shown up like they usually do. They’re scared of me now, after…” 

“After?”

“None of your damn business.”

“Lady Aubergine, you sure have a lot of problems that are nobody else’s business.” Morgana said, pawing in view of Ren.

“Who gave you permission to call me that?”

“He… does that.” Ren said sheepishly.

“Beautiful women with fiery spirits should be referred to with reverence! Lady Anne, Lady Rise, Lady Yukari…”

“Who?”

“Nothing, don’t mind him.”

“Hey! I’m trying to-”

“Call me Aubrey, where’d you even get my full first name from?”

“Your school things.” Morgana said, Aubrey's face quickly turning red.

“WHY WERE YOU DIGGING THROUGH MY THINGS YOU ASSHOLE CAT?!”

“LADY AUBERGINE, IT WAS FOR A GOOD REASON! I PROMISE!”

“THERE IS NO REASON GOOD ENOUGH TO CONVINCE ME, CATBOY!”

“REN! SAVE ME!”

“She won’t kill you.”

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT I WON’T DO!”

“WAAAAAH!”

* * *

Sunny stared at the ceiling. His head hurt, immensely. Mari was on his mind again. He shakily pulled himself out of bed. Mom wasn’t home again, not that he blamed her. He wouldn’t want to be around himself either. His hands tensed as he considered opening the blinds, before his better judgement stopped him as it always had. 

For someone named Sunny, he sure hated natural light.

Why… why was Mari stuck in his head right now?

Aubrey and Kel were too, and…

Something.

He couldn’t see it right now, it was hiding somewhere, but he knew it was in the house. It always was. What did he do to have it follow him? To ingrain itself in his mind?

Why…

Why did Kel have new friends?

It was stupid of him to think Kel should just… never meet new people. Kel deserved a better friend than him anyways, someone who could actually look him in the face.

Someone who he would know cared about him.

He didn’t get why the girl’s hair was so bright, seeming to glow even in the darkness, or how the taller man seemed to blend into the shadows where he stood, but Kel seemed to get along… decently with them. The tall one more so than the girl. Seemed he just had rotten luck with female friends.

How was Hero nowadays? How long had it even been? Was he in high school still? 

He walked over to his PC to check the date. June 25th, 2019. Almost four years. 

He would certainly have left this town by now. After all, Hero was one of the few people almost as close to Mari as he was, definitely closer in some ways. He’d never be able to stick around after what happened.

Looking at the screen hurt his eyes. Speaking of them, they were certainly screwed up. He could tell he was getting nearsighted, but he refused to leave to get his eyes checked. Mom had tried, but he would never leave. He didn’t deserve to.

He didn’t know how, but deep down he knew he was responsible for why Mari killed herself, for why she wasn’t here. He wasn’t good enough, he never was. He didn’t deserve a sister like her.

And so fate took her away.

He felt sick to his stomach.

The bile was rising in the back of his throat. 

Bathroom, now.

He wouldn’t be able to eat, but he probably shouldn’t anyways. It'd be better for his mom to eat what they had.

The acid burned his throat and mouth as he expelled what little there was in his stomach into the toilet, his body struggling to even heave. Each breath burned.

He deserved it.

He collapsed on the tile floor, slowly swallowing the bile that now lined his esophagus.

He… wasn’t going to survive like this. 

…

Good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time, I just wanted to get my thoughts out before they slipped by.


	11. New Mementos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren and Morgana introduce Aubrey to the new form of Mementos, and Ren eases into his new limits.

Though they still called it Mementos, the new form of the “open Metaverse” was far different from the one he’d first explored in Tokyo. 

Looking down the wide open street, the group stood amidst the hellish skyscrapers under a red sky, a red liquid falling constantly as rain. 

“Is this another place like Sunny’s?” Aubrey asked, checking over her outfit. Despite the "rain" falling from above, their clothes remained dry.

“In a sense.” Morgana answered, “People like Sunny have an individualized Palace of their own distortion. You can think of this as a… collective distortion.”

“So a palace shared by everyone?”

“Yeah, that about sums it up. You catch on pretty quick.” Morgana said with an earnest smile. 

“It just… makes sense with everything else.”

“Well, it’s certainly different from his at least.” Ren said, his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, this looks just… entirely depressing.” Aubrey muttered, looking up and down the seemingly endless city streets. Overpasses, street lights, and buildings seemed to twist and bend through their vision, their sight eventually coming to an end in every direction because of it. While it was certainly less claustrophobic, it was in no way more stable compared to the old Mementos. 

“We’re going after your mother, right Aubrey?”

“It feels a bit early to do that, though. Besides…”

“You can make the call when it’s time then.” Ren nodded.

“Oh right! Codenames!” Morgana said, “I almost forgot!”

“Codenames? Like how you call Ren Joker?” 

“Yeah! You need one too!”

“Absolutely not.”

“Aww, come on!” Morgana whined, “Everyone gets one! There’s Skull, Panther, Queen, Fox, Oracle, so on and so forth! Everyone with a Persona that works with the Phantom Thieves gets one!”

“Do you have any ideas then?” 

“Hmmm… I’d say Queen if that wasn’t already taken…” Morgana hummed in response.

“I would have said no regardless, I’m not exactly the ‘queenly’ type.”

“Tough customer.” Ren deadpanned.

“Kiss my ass.”

“That sounds illegal.”

“Tch, well what about… Gladiolus?”

“After the flower?”

“Yeah. Plus, it... kinda sounds like gladiator.”

“Alright! From here on, you shall be Gladiolus! In the Metaverse, anyways.”

“Right so… how does this all work?” Aubrey said, turning back to their surroundings, “I don’t exactly see much to work with.”

“That’s what the Metanav helps with! Joker, if you would.” Morgana said, handing attention over to his partner.

“It works a bit similar to how we found Sunny’s, but being that this place is essentially the Palace of the Masses, we simply need a name.”

“A name, huh? Let’s try… Kimberly White.”

“Candidate Found. Location: 3 Kilometers North-North East, Sector A.”

“KILOMETERS?! How the hell do you expect us to go that far?”

“Ha! Observe, Lady Gladiolus.” Morgana said, “Morganaaaaaa… TRAAAAAANSFORM!” 

Jumping into the air, Morgana was replaced with a puff of smoke, an oddly feline van slamming down onto the imitation of concrete around them.

“Okay, so the cat can turn into an anime character and a van. Cool. Got it.” Aubrey sighed, “Why am I not even shocked?”

“Having to go three kilos shocked you more, but whatever.”

“I understand how painful walking that far is, I don’t have a damn clue what Morgana even is anymore.”

“My codename is Mona!” Morgana said, his voice echoing from the grill. “Come on, get in!”

“Oh Christ…” Aubrey sighed, “Do I have to?”

“Unless you want to walk,” Ren shrugged, “But I’m assuming you just chose someone you know, so I doubt you’d be doing much with their shadow anyways. Consider this a demonstration.”

“Right, first mission and all that?”

“In Mementos anyways. Besides, it’s good to get practice fighting Shadows in.”

“So those monsters are in here too?”

“Yeah. I’m still a bit tuckered out too, so we’ll probably just speed by most of them,” Ren said, hopping into the driver’s seat.” 

“Shotgun reserved for the lady, of course.”

“Shut up, Mona.” Aubrey said, climbing in the passenger seat. “Though on that note, a shotgun would be fun…” 

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Ren said, starting Morgana.

* * *

“So Henry, Kel was saying you two have a new friend?” Mrs. Desoto said over their family dinner. 

“Yeah, he’s a guy from Japan, same age as me.”

“Japan huh? Pretty… Faraway.” Mr. Desoto said, chuckling at his own lame pun. 

“An entire ocean and over half a country, yeah.” Henry said, “He seems pretty chill.”

“Oh, you’ve picked up a bunch of slang from college, huh?” his mother teased, a grin spreading across her face.

“No, Mom. That’s just natural nowadays.”

“So what your mother said, you picked up slang.”

“Trust me, I’m not going to be as bad about it as Kel.” Henry said, raising his arms in a mock surrender.

“Hey! I resent that!” Kel said, “One time I said 'poggers' Hero! One time!” 

“One time too many, if you ask me.”

“Oh, harmed yet again in the line of duty…”

“Drama queen.” Henry said, flicking at his brother’s arm. 

“Love you too, dork.”

“Glad to see everyone’s enjoying themselves.” Mrs. Desoto said with a smile, “It’s great to have you back sweetie.”

“Yeah, trust me, it’s nice to be home.” 

* * *

“Shadows spotted ahead.” Morgana said, “You see ‘em, Joker?”

“Yep. They seem like a good target.”

“Alright, full speed ahead!”

“Wait, are you going to just run them over?”

“Absolutely!” Ren said, flooring it ahead.

Poor thing didn’t see them coming until Morgana had slammed into it. 

Ren and Aubrey hopped out, drawing their weapons as Morgana reverted to his normal form. The hulking shadow writhed on the ground, splitting off into three separate smaller demons. A Pixie, a Slime, an Agathion. Perfect training fodder.

Moreover, perfect to test how much the white child repressing his Persona’s had affected his finesse. 

“Mona, handle the Slime. Gladiolus, take the one on the right.” 

“Fine by me,” Aubrey said, running towards the Agathion. She swung her bat at its head, the blue face retracting into the vase to avoid the blow. It slammed into the ground with a loud clang, bouncing backwards down the street. 

Morgana quickly dealt with the Slime, blowing it away with wind. His power evidently hadn’t diminished nearly as much as his own. 

Following up on his teammates, Ren rushed forward, slashing the Pixie with his blade. It screamed in pain, giving him time to follow up with two more blows to finish it off. 

“Lookin’ cool Joker!” Morgana said, Ren chuckling at the phrase. Aubrey came over the Agathion, summoning Bellona to pierce through the shadow’s armor with its javelin. 

“Good job team!” Morgana yelled, “A good a fight as any!”

“Figures you’d take the weakest one.” Aubrey groaned, glaring at Ren.

“Hey, I figured you had the better tools for dealing with armor, and I was right.”

“A good leader understands everyone’s strengths!” Morgana piped in, “Seems like he’s already getting a grasp of what you have up your sleeve!”

“If that’s what he thinks, he’s a dumbass.”

“No, I think you’re just a lot easier to read than you want to believe.”

“You… tch.”

Their journey continued, Morgana transforming into a van again to take them towards their destination. Most shadows were smart enough to stay out of the road, but some were a bit more… pushy than others. They were dealt with in much the same fashion, with Morgana using his more powerful magic to handle more physically defensive shadows while Ren and Aubrey dispatched lighter foes. In a loose sense, they functioned similar to how he, Ryuji and Morgana had when first exploring Kamoshida’s Palace, though Aubrey was far more… aggressive. Each swing of her bat had _too_ much force behind it, each swing or jab from Bellona carrying with it a wave of rage, each fire spell burning with the same fury. For lack of a better phrase, she was intense.

With time, they reached their destination, a building bent almost ninety degrees to hang over the road, standing purely because of the nature of Mementos more than actual physics. 

“Our target is right here!” Morgana announced, Ren stopping to let himself and Aubrey out before Morgana reverted to his normal form. 

“Hey… you aren’t a bad person if you have a shadow, right?” Aubrey asked, looking up at the top of the building hanging above them.

“Everyone has a shadow, parts of themselves that they repress, that they try to hide from themselves or others. Not having one is more concerning than having one.”

“Then… is there a building here for every member of the human race?”

“I’d imagine so… just look at how massive it all is.”

“Maybe only going three kilometers was a blessing.” Aubrey sighed, “Let’s get a move on.” 

The building itself was far less spacious on the inside, the lobby being sealed of all exits save the one they’d entered from. A shadow’s den, similar to the ones within Tokyo’s Mementos.

In the center was the girl that had called for Aubrey, and the one who’d taken an interest in Morgana. 

“Hey, Kim.” Aubrey said, stepping forward into the room.

“Aubrey…? What’s with that weird getup?” The shadow said, “You’re not hanging with those losers, are you?”

“Seems I am for now.” she replied, “So what’s your deal?”

“What, do you want to fight about it?”

“I wouldn’t advise that.” Ren said, “Three on one fights aren’t generally fair.”

“Well, what if I make it a three on three?”

“Huh?” 

“Heyyyyy! I need help!” 

Two large shadows came from the darkness behind Kim’s shadow, their form similar to the ones outside before Morgana had hit them. Their bodies tensed, transforming into Onis, their crimson red skin and large weapons spelling immediate trouble to Ren.

“All’s fair in love and war, right?”


	12. Shadows in Mementos

“Joker, what’s our plan?” Morgana said, raising his blade over his shoulder as the two Onis approached.

“We don’t need one.” Aubrey said, pointing with her bat towards the shadows. 

With a dramatic laugh, Kim’s shadow transformed, turning into a feline demon similar to Morgana, though with a far more proportional head. 

“A Cait Sith.” Morgana noted, “Watch out for fire magic.”

“KIM’S A FURRY?!” Aubrey coughed out, “DAMNIT!”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Ren sighed, “Come on now.”

“HOW DARE YOU!” Kim’s shadow yelled back at Aubrey, “Agi!” 

A burst of fire leapt from its sword, flying towards Aubrey. It singed the ground where her feet were moments before, the intended target running forwards to retaliate. One of the Onis brandished its weapon, slashing and cutting into Aubrey’s arm. She shrieked, stumbling backwards as blood flowed from the fresh wound. 

“Be careful!” Morgana chided, Running over to her aid. 

“I’ve got it.” Ren said, summoning Arsene. “Eiha!”

At his command, a blast of dark magic pierced the first Oni’s chest, causing it to stumble backwards away from his other two team members. The second took a swipe at Ren, the phantom thief somersaulting over it to evade. 

“Showoff!” Kim’s shadow yelled, “Just take the hit like a man!”

“Diarama.” Morgana said, healing the wound on Aubrey’s arm while Ren covered them, “There, is that better?”   


“Yeah,” Aubrey said, summoning Bellona, “Let’s kick some ass.” 

The duo returned to the fray, Aubrey finishing off the first Oni with a cleave of Bellona’s sword while Morgana jumped in to strike the second while it recovered from taking swings at Ren. 

Kim’s shadow was alone now. 

“Well, ah…” it coughed, “Hello?”

Aubrey raised her bat.

“AUBREY!” Ren yelled, the firmness taking both her and Morgana off guard, “If you kill her shadow, it kills Kim in reality.”

Aubrey’s face went pale. 

“You didn’t think that important to fucking mention until right now?”

“Well I can’t say I exactly expected your first option at a surrendering opponent to be to bash their skull in with a bat.” 

“Fine then, what now?”

“I’m assuming you picked her for a reason?”

“No, I just chose the first name that came to mind.” Aubrey shrugged.

“Right…” Ren coughed, “Good thing you didn’t get in here alone then.” 

“So… what are you going to do to me then?” The shadow asked hesitantly.

“Nothing, for now at least. Have a nice… indiscriminate amount of time.” Ren said, turning to leave. 

“Now what?” Aubrey asked as they left, “Do we have to go all the way back?”

“If it works like the one in Japan, we should be able to just find an exit nearby.”

“And… how nearby is nearby?”

“We’ll see. Mona, if you would.”

“On it!” Morgana responded, transforming once more.

Ren recognized the building quickly enough, resembling a subway entrance, though modeled on New York City’s instead of Tokyo’s like he was used to. Now, rather than an entrance to Mementos, it was the exit. Behind the doors was a swirling curtain of black and red, matching the colors of the city around them. 

Taking the initiative, Ren stepped out first and walked into the void. He felt his body become weightless as he left Mementos. Gravity took a hold on him again as he continued walking, standing on the sidewalk outside Aubrey’s house. Aubrey and Morgana soon followed, the latter back in his cat form. 

“So, the choice is in my hands now.” Aubrey said, looking over her shoulder at her house.

“Do you have the Metanav to even go there?”

“Yeah, I’ve had it on my phone since last night.”

“Didn’t think to mention it?” Morgana chided, “The more you keep to yourself, the harder things are, y’know?”

“God, and I’m exhausted all over again.” Aubrey groaned, “Why’d I agree to that?” 

“If it’s any consolation, I’m tired too.” Ren shrugged. 

“Not really. Take Morgana with you, I’m tired of him following me around... even if you seem to like it so much.”   


“You wound me, Lady Aubergine.”

“And I’ll actually wound you if you keep that up.”

“Sure you don’t want somewhere else to stay, Aubrey?” Ren asked, “Money isn’t exactly a constraint for me right now, if you want to stay somewhere while we handle this-”

“There is no ‘we’ here. I’m fine,  _ thanks _ .”

Ren stared in silence as Aubrey turned and walked back into her house.   


“Let’s get going, Ren. We might want to check in on Kel and his brother.”

“Yeah, might be a bit late for food though.”

“That’s fine, I doubt Kel was exactly on time.”

“Keep me away from that dog!”

“Trust me, I will.” Ren deadpanned, remembering all the times Morgana went into a feral panic and clawed Ren trying to get away from any kind of dog. Big, small, friendly, mean, it didn’t matter to Morgana.

Regardless of any of that though, it was good to spend time with his new friends and unwind before returning to the hotel.

* * *

Sunny peered through the cracks in the curtains, watching as the same tall, black haired young man approached Kel’s house, the cat he’d had before now sticking out of a bag on his shoulder. The man turned to face Sunny, but he didn’t react. There was no way he could be seen in the encroaching darkness, much less from such a distance. 

Mom wasn’t home again. Working late? Who knew anymore. He could never remember her work schedules. He hated being awake at these times. The house was his, but there was nothing to do. Everything he had that was important was in his room. His PC whirred to life, the screen before him erupting in color. Music was always a great escape.

“I’ve never felt like; so miserable…” the song he chose began, playing through the headphones on his head, a song of romance layered with doubt and the fear of its inevitable end. Despite the happy sounds over it, the lyrics… resonated with Sunny more than he would ever want to admit.

“When the moon’s reaching stars, if you hold me tight… feeling hearts beat so close, will this last for long?”

And then it looped. Sunny always let it play out to the end. It was certainly old, well over ten years by now, and definitely sung by someone who wasn’t  _ entirely _ familiar with English, but he didn’t care. He closed his eyes, letting the notes and words wash over him. 

Time to browse the Phan-Site.

Ever since its inception in 2016, Sunny enjoyed watching over it. The story of the Phantom Thieves… what kid wouldn’t be intrigued? He’d rewatched videos trying to put together theories of the thieves' identities, artistic interpretations of their outfits, music and merch based on them…

Then there was the Phan Site, a place where all of these things converged. It’d changed a bit since its inception, now being a full forum instead of just a fan site, but the central topic was unchanged. Hearts were being changed worldwide, depending on who you asked. 

Every so often, he’d watch the video where they truly unveiled themselves…

Japanese was never Sunny’s strong suit, but he’d picked up bits and pieces from his family when he was young and studied it to truly understand the Phan Site. Perhaps it wasn’t as useful as a more common language, but it wasn’t like he was going to be speaking to people directly in general anyways. He just wanted to watch. He was good at that. Listening too. It was doing things that was the issue. He always screwed something up, regardless of how hard he’d try. 

The song ended, moving on to another by the same artist. This one had Juiced Lotus in it, carrying a more action based tone.

Sunny loved music.

He loved the way sounds connected, the way they made him feel.

He was always so numb, it seemed like, unable to truly get anything in or out of his mind, but music helped.

There was knocking.

This wasn’t a part of the song.

Something was outside his house. 

Sunny’s breathing became rapid. 

Something was beating on the door.

Something wanted to scare him.

It could very well get inside if it wanted to, but it chose to attack him like this, to wear him down. He turned up the volume, the song drowning out any other noises and fears. 

He needed to make sure he didn’t hurt anyone else by existing, no more than he already had. 

The knocking ceased, he could breathe freely again. 

But it’d be back. 

It wasn’t going to leave him until he was dead.


	13. The Second Night

The events of the previous night flashed through Ren’s mind as he lay back in the hotel room. Kel looked so distraught…

* * *

“Oh, hey Ren! Good timing, we were gonna see if we could get Sunny to come out!” Kel called from behind Sunny’s house, a giant grin on his face

“Again?” Ren said, walking over to join them. 

“Yeah, look at his window!” Kel said, pointing up. The curtains were wide open. Sitting in front of a monitor was a young, painfully frail and thin looking boy. Black hair covered his head, looking trimmed despite his lifestyle. Perhaps his mother did them? 

“We can actually see him! It’s…”

“I think he gets it Kel.” Henry laughed, “Ren, could you stay and watch what he does?”

“Sure.” he replied, Morgana poking his head out of the bag to watch with him. Kel looked so excited walking up to the door, all but shaking with anticipation. 

Something went wrong as soon as he started knocking. 

Sunny tensed, his eyes seeming to almost glaze over as he pulled off his headphones.

Then he started shaking. 

He was shaking so fiercely it was obvious even from several meters away.

Sunny closed his eyes, drawing his knees up to his chest.

“Ren, what’s wrong?” Kel said, looking back over his shoulder at Ren’s firm expression.

“He’s… scared.” Ren said, choosing his words carefully. Kel quickly jogged over, his eyes widening as he saw the state Sunny was in. Henry had the same distant expression Ren did. Was he not as close to Sunny as Kel was, or was he just trying to stay distant?

“Let’s… Let’s go back, Kel.”

“No! Look at him, he needs help!” Kel retorted, looking up at his brother, “I’m not going to leave him!”

“Then what are you going to do, Kel? Break into his house?”

“Maybe I will! So what?”

“You think breaking into the house of someone having a mental breakdown is going to help them?” Henry said, unnaturally curt compared to the tones he’d heard, “He doesn’t want to see us.”

Kel remained silent, turning back and looking back up at Sunny. So, he wore a mask too, it just hadn’t manifested like Aubrey’s had.

Yet. 

Judging from the way he balled his fists…

Perhaps he had more of a sense of justice than he was letting on.

“It’s not worth it, Kel.”

“What do you mean, Hero? He’s my friend!”

Morgana hummed silently on Ren’s shoulder, both looking over the brothers. Evidently their relationship had deteriorated more than either was letting on, or more than they wanted to admit to themselves. 

Henry left first, turning and walking back to their home. Kel stood for longer, looking up as Sunny shut off his computer. The inside was dark, too dark to see into. The moon above illuminated them, but it seemed Sunny didn’t check. 

“Let’s… Let’s get out of here.” Kel said, his expression deflating as he followed his brother. 

Ren didn’t stick around after that, the mood was killed already. Now he was back in the hotel room, Morgana making himself comfortable at his feet.

“Interesting day, huh?”

“Yeah, you could say that.” Ren sighed, “Didn’t expect… a whole lot of that.”

“Well, you better get to sleep then, doesn’t seem like tomorrow is going to be any easier.” Morgana yawned, “I’m pooped.”

“Well you did drive for a while, I’d be more shocked if you weren’t tired.”

“True… Hey, question, what’s with you using Arsene again?”

“Oh, yeah. Never really had a good chance to explain,” Ren said, beginning to recount both his side of the battle with the white child and the changes within the Velvet Room.

“Hmmm… I wonder if I’d be able to enter the Velvet Room again, actually…” Morgana pondered, “Well, regardless of that… I wonder if you’d be able to take on new Personas in Sunny’s Palace."

“They just feel… different, you know? Like something isn’t quite right with them.”

“I noticed that too, plus they were walking around just as they are… that isn’t normal.”

“Nothing ever seems to be as easy as we want, eh?”

“Doesn’t mean we’re ever going to slow down though.” Morgana replied, “Sleep tight, Ren.” 

“You too, Morgana.” Ren said, leaning back into his pillow. His body felt heavy, but not his eyelids. Not yet, anyways. Regardless, he closed them and slowly faded into his dreams. 

* * *

Aubrey stared at the app on her phone.

This… thing. It gave her and anyone who had it the power to kill whoever they wanted. 

It was terrifying, yet paradoxically calming.

Coupled with the presence of Bellona in her mind, she hadn’t exactly had the easiest time getting to sleep. A text arrived on her phone, from Kim. 

“Call me…” she read out loud, closing it like every other text she’d gotten that day. How could she even begin to explain without lying or sounding like she was going insane? Bellona had already gotten her to let out her anger on the Hooligans once, and that was one time too many for her. They were about all she had left, and yet there she sat distancing herself.

Not for her own sake, but for theirs.

All over again…

“ _And you’re all the stronger for it._ ” Bellona spoke inside her mind, “ _You’re used to standing alone, are you not?_ ” 

“No, I don’t think this is making me any stronger.”

“ _Does this mean that you’re finally realizing, Aubergine?_ ” 

“Realizing what?”

Bellona didn’t answer, leaving her replying question floating off into an empty house. After everything the last two days she just felt… dulled. Like a knife used far too many times. Her room was the cleanest in the entire house, and yet it still felt filthy just by being attached to the rest of it. 

Sunny went through this every day, didn’t he? 

Well, part of it anyways.

She’d have to go back, on her own. Kel and Ren were too… pushy. All the damn time. The cat too, if anything he was somehow _more_ invasive.

She pulled her phone out again, replying to Kim alone.

_Not tonight, maybe tomorrow._

That’d do, right?

* * *

_Welcome to White Space._

_You’ve been here as long as you can remember._

* * *

Sunny opened his eyes, once more as his better self. White Space was… comforting. A place he could exist without the world crushing the breath out of him. Where Something could never get him. If anything, his only regret was that he couldn’t always be here, but it wasn’t his home, not yet. He opened the sketchbook, flipping to the first blank page. He only had two crayons, black and red, but they served his purposes. They were truly all he needed, in…

A message?

“Look at the new door.” was written, drawing his attention behind him. Indeed, a new door had appeared, seeming even more out of place than the first a few feet away from it. 

It unnerved him. Someone or… Something was changing White Space.

He felt Something’s presence. 

Nowhere was safe for him. 

The knife. 

He pointed it towards his own chest.

The only way to wake up on his own.

With a swift motion, he pierced his own torso, quickly losing control of his body as his legs dropped, the knife thrusting deeper as he fell onto it. 

He was back in the worse room now. 

Something was in the house again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried playing around with perspectives a bit more, let me know what you all think!


	14. The Flower Boy's Gardens

Aubrey stared at the white child, her clothes having shifted into her Metaverse attire as she entered. 

“You came alone.” it said, its knees resting under its chin.

Just like how Sunny used to. 

“What do I have to do to help Sunny?”

“I thought we had made it clear to you and your leader already, did we not? We do not want your help.”

“He isn’t my leader, we aren’t even teammates.”

“Then let me show you something.”

* * *

“Like I said, don’t worry about it Henry.” Ren said, “Aubrey and I found a way to work it out, I think anyways.”

“It’s just… odd to me. Especially for her. But hey, if she became less stubborn I guess that’s a good thing.”

“Yeah. Have any other plans today?”

“Not really. Kel wanted to do something, but I think I should be free later in the afternoon.”

“Alright, I’ll be seeing you then.”

“Adios.” Henry said, prompting Ren to end the call. 

“We have a few hours to ourselves, where to?” Ren asked, scratching behind Morgana’s ears.

“You can get me fish.” Morgana yawned.

“Anchovy pizza it is, then.” Ren smirked.

“Noooo…” Morgana whined, “Go check out the convenience store or something!”

“And where would we cook that?”

“You…” Morgana began, before audibly sighing, “Yeah, you’re right…”

“One day, Morgana. Just probably not today.” 

“What else then?”

“Let’s look for something.”

* * *

“Oh, it’s you again, miss!” Dream Aubrey said, looking up at her real self. “Wait! Omori, It’s you!”

“Wait, for real?!” Dream Kel yelled, peering at the white child holding Aubrey’s hand. “Great to see ya!”

So the child was Omori... 

“Oh! Does this mean we can go visit Mari and Basil?!” Dream Aubrey said excitedly, “Hero, can we? Can we?”

“Isn’t that what we were waiting on Omori to do?”

Omori didn’t release his grip, leading Aubrey out of the purple room and back into the forest. 

“Don’t forget what I said about your actions being meaningless, you’ll realize why soon enough.” Omori said.

“Hey Omori, can I hold your other hand?” Dream Aubrey said, walking up to his other side. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed it and walked alongside them, blissfully unaware of Omori’s true intention.

The cognitions of Kel and Hero followed, both equally unbothered by Aubrey’s attire. 

“Oh, there you guys are!” Mari called, waving them over.

Aubrey felt her blood go cold.

The false Mari she’d killed was already back, smiling as though nothing had happened. 

Everyone bounded over to greet her except Omori, standing at Aubrey’s side.

“You can’t make any more of a difference in this world than the real one.” it said, releasing her hand and walking over. The topics of the cognitions’ conversation breezed past Aubrey, who remained still. 

She turned and left, not towards the exit, but deeper into the palace. 

The forest path gave way into a crossroads, so she continued forward. 

Sunflowers… Very clearly grown intentionally, considering the tilled soil and fenced off boundaries. A watering can sat against the fence. Outside of that though, several wild flowers lined the path.

Was this… Sunny’s cognition of Basil? 

She continued down the path, calmed by the forest noises, accurate to the forests around Faraway. She’d know, she spent so much of her time outside nowadays. 

Lily of the Valley… 

She stopped and stepped over to smell them, taking in the faint, yet strong scent. She’d loved them when she was young but now…

They just reminded her of Mari. 

“Umm… who are you?” A young boy asked, drawing Aubrey’s attention away from the flowers. It was Basil. Far younger, obviously, and with bright green hair, but Basil nonetheless. A flower crown rested over his head, and in one hand he carried his… photo album.

“I’m… Gladiolus.” she said, using her new codename instead of her own name.

“Oh… yeah, I can see that. It fits if you ask me!”

“Thank you.” 

He… was too much like the real thing when he was young. The others were incredibly close, but Basil’s was uncannily so. His body language, his nervous energy, the genuine smile on his face despite it…

Come to think of it, so much of this forest was uncannily real for a dream world... just how perceptive was Sunny? The smells and textures of the forest around here didn’t phase her for a moment. Was this normal? Mementos had been far more… abstract. It was odorless, the “concrete” was just slightly off, yet this was different. The grass crunched beneath her feet like she was genuinely outside.

“Have… you met my friends? I’m going to go see them at the playground.”

“I think so, everyone who looks like us.”

“Nah, I think you have a much cooler outfit.” The cognition laughed, “But I get what you mean. Would you… want to hang out with us?”

“Sorry, I’m… exploring you could say.”

“Sounds like fun! I hope I can go on an adventure with everyone soon… I’d need to get someone to water my flowers though.”

“Why don’t you show me the rest? You seem to take very good care of them.”

“Oh, alright! I don’t think everyone will mind if I make a new friend!”

A new friend, huh?

If only Sunny knew what the real world was like.

“I’m sure you recognize these!” Basil said, excitedly walking over to a patch of gladioli. They were masterfully kept, growing up higher than Aubrey had imagined possible, and there were dozens of them. “And over here are my rose bushes, quite the variety as you can see.”

“They look lovely.” Aubrey said. Sunny seemed to have an eye for flowers. 

He remembered all these after so many years…

The next flowers would be cacti and tulips, she was sure of it. 

…

Why did she have such an uneasy feeling?

This was all oddly familiar, yet alien at the same time. It felt wrong, not helping that she just felt like there was something watching her.

"Hmhmhmhhhhmmmm." Basil hummed, blissfully unaware of the feeling Aubrey was keeping silent of. 

Her memory served well, Basil leading around a bend in the path towards a patch of cacti. 

“Say, do these cacti remind you of anyone?” 

“Hmm… I'd say they remind me of my friend Kel.”

“Because he’s a prick?”

“No! He’s… just really sturdy, even if he doesn’t look like it. I’m honestly just kinda… jealous of how he can handle things sometimes.”

“Really…” 

“I have great friends. I’m… really lucky to know people like them.”

Aubrey remained silent, continuing down to the tulips.

Sunny… 

These were Sunny’s flowers, the one the real Basil had associated with him. Plain, but beautiful all the same. Basil had said something like “a simple exterior hides a beautiful interior, right Sunny?”

“You take good care of these flowers.”

“Thank you. It’s… what I love to do. What do you like Miss Gladiolus?” 

“I’m… not sure.”

“You seem like the type who likes to help people. To me, anyways.” Basil said, taking a few moments to ponder his words.

“What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know, it’s just a vibe you give off I guess.” Basil said with a shrug, “I think you probably make more people happy than you realize.”

“You’re a smart kid.” Aubrey said after a few moments of silence.

“Well, I’m the brains of the younger four. Hero and Mari are smarter, but they’re like parents instead of friends sometimes.”

“I get the feeling.”

The two continued down, Basil suddenly stopping as they walked past another clearing.

“That’s… not one of my flowers… what is it?” 

Aubrey lowered her bat, she expected trouble.

As Basil approached, a plant-like monster burst from the ground, sending the boy stumbling. At once more popped up around them.

They were surrounded.

Being plants though…

She drew her hand to the mask on her face. 

“When I start attacking, I need you to run, okay?”

Basil shakily nodded.

The shadows drew closer. 

No time like the present. 

“Bellona!”

* * *

“Hey! Cat guy!” Kim yelled, running over towards Ren with a taller man in a red shirt in tow, “What’d you do to Aubrey?!”

“I’m… sorry?”

“YEAH, BUT WHAT FOR?!”

“Kim, he’s confused, not apologizing.” the man sighed.

“Shut up, Vance, this is important.” She said, turning back to Ren, “So? What’d you do?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, I didn’t  _ do _ anything.”

“Ever since you showed up she’s been acting different, really different, so what gives? You said yourself you got her to help you with whatever it is you’re doing… Did you threaten her?!”

“She would beat me with her bat if I tried to.”

“Unless you had worse!”

“And where would I have that?”

“Kim, just… ask like a normal person.”

“Just… fine. Okay. Aubrey isn’t answering her phone at all, and… I don’t think she’s in her house either. We can’t find her anywhere. She… said she was gonna see me today, and…”

“You’re worried then?” Ren said, tilting his head as he asked.

“No! Yes! Maybe…”

“The answer is yes, she is,” Vance said, “She’s always like this when she’s worried about Aubrey.”

“Am not!”

“You think I don’t have basic pattern recognition skills?”

“I doubt it sometimes!“

“Where have you checked?” Ren interjected between their bickering.

“I checked all of our common hangout spots, I checked our houses, and when I try to call her it goes straight to voicemail like her phone is off!"

Ren blinked. 

Like her phone was off…

He took off running.

“Hey! Wait up!”

* * *

For every one she and Bellona seemed to kill, another one took its place. She didn’t give herself proper time to rest, and she could tell. She was getting more sluggish by the second, and she was struggling to avoid getting hit by the shadows’ curse spells. She wasn’t sure how many she could take, if any, considering the damage she’d seen Ren do with his own. If she died trying to protect a fucking cognition she was going to haunt Sunny as the most pissy ghost she could possibly be. She crushed one more with her bat, kicking its body towards its cohorts before it faded into nothing. Bellona followed on her diversion, firing a blast of flames over a trio. 

She wasn’t even sure if she was winning, and she was entirely alone. As more sprang out, she made a break for it, slamming one back into the ground as it crawled to the surface. She ran through the trees, loosely following the path through Basil’s gardens. 

One more was waiting for her at the end of his gardens.

A different shadow, much more powerful than the ones before.

It took the form of a woman’s body rising from a blood red rose, her lower body entirely obscured by or a part of the flower she rose from. 

“Come here, little darling. Let me take your pain away.”

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to everyone in the OMORI discord for talking about this idea with me! I'm refining some of it as I work, but I'm really excited to see where this goes.


End file.
